NHS England has promoted two hospital trusts from its worst “capability” score after they improved their financial performance at the end of 2025-26, reports HSJ.
In April, the Countess of Chester Foundation Trust and East Lancashire Hospitals Trust were both rated “red” for “capability”, which means NHSE had significant concerns over delivery, governance, or other issues.
In a batch of new ratings issued for the first quarter of 2026-27, both have been upgraded to “amber/red”, meaning there is a material issue that needs addressing or has been a failure to address problems over time in the latest scores.
Both trusts were among the largest climbers in the latest NHSE acute trust league table for quarter four of 2025-26.