The Care Quality Commission has published its 2009 ratings for all Trusts in England and Wales. Based on self-assessment, these figures rate services, quality and financial management, and represent a comprehensive perspective on the current NHS. You can explore the results for yourself at the Care Quality Commission’s special website.

The picture painted by the results is mixed - overall, standards have increased, and waiting times in particular have undergone exciting improvements: most people wait less than four hours in Accident and Emergency, for instance, and the 18-week waiting time target has been hit squarely. But fewer Trusts have been rated excellent than were last year, and there is a persistent group of hospitals consistently receiving a weak rating.

The media are covering these figures with a focus on what needs improving: The Times writes that half of hospitals do not fully comply with standards, whilst the Telegraph warns that one in eight Trusts could face closure; The Guardian emphasises the fall in the number of hospitals and Trusts rated ‘excellent’, and the BBC focuses on the Care Quality Commission’s role in improving the weaker hospitals.

Compliance with core standards is essential, and as we write regularly on this site our emphasis on these must not be allowed to slip as we naturally move on to tackling issues of finance and further improvements. And, of course, we must achieve high quality care for all - as the HSJ points out, overall improvement isn’t necessarily improvement for everyone everywhere. The Care Quality Commission’s data is valuable, and contains much good news. Much work will now go in to continuing the upward trend, and accelerating and embedding it across the NHS. We’ll be here to keep reporting on and engaging with that process.