Rising through the ranks: we're in the top 25
It’s official - our group of hospitals is currently one of the top-performing NHS trusts in the country.
The latest rankings show we leaped more than 50 places from the bottom half of the National Oversight Framework (NOF) league table into the top quarter.
Our exceptional operational and financial record in the last three months of 2025-26 ensured we rose from 74th in quarter three (within NOF segment 3) to 21st in quarter four (in NOF segment 1).
The NOF was introduced last year to provide a consistent and transparent way of assessing trusts, to enable NHS England to determine which might benefit from greater freedoms and which needed more support.
We were originally put in the third quartile because of our financial position and elective backlog. But our finances improved over the year as we implemented our recovery plan and balanced the books.
The scoring system measures a range of indicators including compliance with constitutional standards and staff survey results. For the three months to the end of March we were scored as the second most-improved trust in the country, reflecting our successful drive to reduce elective waiting times in particular.
Reporting on the updated league table, the Health Service Journal said: "The star performer of the fourth quarter was Barts Health Trust, which leapt from 74th to 21st and straight from Segment Three to Segment One. The trust saw significant improvements in both its finances and waiting time performance."
The overall waiting list fell by more than 10,500 in that period as we dramatically reduced long waits, ensuring no-one now waits 65 weeks for a routine operation and reducing by 80% the numbers waiting 52 weeks.
At the same time we established ourselves as one of the most-improved trusts in the country for urgent and emergency care. Our performance against the national standard improved from 71% to 76% from March 2025 to March 2026, meaning more than 2,000 extra patients in A&E were seen with four hours.
Under an NHS England incentive scheme this means we earned ourselves an extra £2m of capital to invest in infrastructure improvements over the next two years.
Our A&E improvement was particularly notable as it covered a period of ever-increasing attendances, with a record 47,000 people visiting our three emergency departments last month.
If we maintain our position in segment 1 of the national rankings we will be well-placed to fulfil our ambition to become an advanced foundation trust, with greater freedom to run our affairs free from regulatory scrutiny.
Shane DeGaris, group chief executive, said: “Congratulations to all those in our hospitals and support services who have worked so tirelessly to drive these improvements. We know our hospitals are busier than ever before, treating record numbers of patients every day, and it is heartening to know that your hard work and dedication to high quality care is recognised by the NHS leadership and our counterparts across the country.
“We can’t afford to be complacent, because these relative rankings will no doubt change again in the next quarter, but we should celebrate this fantastic achievement and use it as a springboard for further improvement in the future.”