Leicester hospitals have ranked poorly in a new NHS league table. The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) came in joint 101 of 134 acute NHS trusts in performance rankings published for the first time by the Government this week. 

The trust narrowly missed out on being included in the category of worst performing trusts. UHL told the LDRS its rating reflected "ongoing challenges with finance and access to services". 

The city's three hospitals performed better, however, when it came to effectiveness and experience of care and the experiences of its workforce.  

Trust chief executive officer Richard Mitchell said the organisation has "ambitious plans to improve care" locally, and that those improvements are "well within reach". 

The Government's ranking reveals particular concerns around cancer treatment, with the trust coming in 15th from bottom in the league table for the percentage of patients being treated within the 62-days-from-referral target.  

It also came in 103 of 131 trusts for the percentage of cases were patients were waiting 18 weeks or fewer for elective – non-urgent – care. 

The trust also performed below average for the number of patients spending 12 hours or more in A&E, the percentage of people waiting more than 52 weeks for elective care and the percentage of urgent referrals which received a definitive diagnosis within the four-week target. 

On its finances, the trust is showing a deficit in its 2025/26 budget, putting it in the lowest category for that performance area, known as 'segment four'. 

However, the trust came above average for the time it takes for patients to be discharged and for its in-patient satisfaction rates.  

Patient safety rankings were more mixed, with low rankings for infection rates but better than average results when it comes to the number of patient safety concerns being raised by staff.  

It performed well on the workforce criteria however, with a good sickness rate and positive responses in staff feedback. 

Mr Mitchell said: "We have ambitious plans to improve care and we have made real progress over the past year – launching new services like the Hinckley Community Diagnostic Centre to reduce waiting times, improving staffing, and exiting national recovery support for finances.  

"While financial challenges keep us in segment 3 [overall] of the National Oversight Framework, we are rated in the highest performing segment for effectiveness and experience of care and people and workforce. 

"The measures underpinning the framework align with our three annual priorities: transforming patient care, strengthening our culture, and delivering our financial plan. With continued focus and collective effort, further improvement is well within reach." 



East Midlands Ambulance Serive was named 'high performing' in Government rankings (Photo: Electric Egg via EMAS)

While UHL ranked poorly in the league table, Leicestershire's two other NHS trusts performed well compared to similar organisations. East Midlands Ambulance Service (Emas) came second of 10 ambulance trusts and was lauded as "high performing" by the Government. 

Among its successes was a high number of patients being treated in the community, rather than being taken to hospital. It also scored well for financial management and staff feedback. 

However, concerns were identified around response times, with Emas just missing the 30-minute objective for category two calls with an average of 32.63 minutes and ranking eight of 10 trusts for this indicator.  

Category two calls include strokes and heart attacks. It also had a comparatively high absence rate among staff, ranking seventh for this. 

Richard Henderson, chief executive at Emas, said: "The NHS Oversight Framework dashboard ranks East Midlands Ambulance Service (Emas) second nationally among English ambulance trusts.  

"This is testament to the dedication, compassion and professionalism shown every day by my colleagues and volunteers working across Emas. 

"I extend my sincere thanks to them all for their continued hard work and commitment to delivering the best possible care to our patients. While this result reflects the effort across our service – as the dashboard demonstrates, every department and every role has a part to play – we recognise that there is always more we can do. 

"We remain focused on listening to and acting on patient and staff feedback, addressing the pressures we face daily, and finding ways to further improve our service.  

"We are committed to working closely with our health and social care partners to respond to challenges and to seek out solutions that will help us provide even better care for our communities." 

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) is responsible for mental health and special needs care in the county. It ranked joint 17 of 61 trusts in its category. 

The trust scored well for effective flow and discharge and urgent community and mental health crisis responses. It too had good staff and patient feedback and sound finances.  

However, sickness rates were again high and it came in 40 of 41 for the percentage of patients waiting more than 52 weeks for elective community services. 

Angela Hillery, chief executive of LPT, said: "We are pleased that LPT has achieved Segment 2 and is ranked nationally 17th out of 61 community and mental health trusts.  

"This segment is a good position to be in and is a credit to our staff's hard work and commitment. We will always strive for continuous improvement on behalf of our population."