Our response to the Government’s NHS league tables

In September 2025, the Government announced plans to publish league tables ranking NHS trusts in an effort to improve standards of care for patients.

Every trust in England will be ranked quarterly against a range of services, ranging from urgent and emergency care to elective operations and mental health services.

Our response

Responding to the announcement, Healthwatch North Yorkshire's chief executive, Ashley Green, said:

"At Healthwatch North Yorkshire, we welcome the principle of transparency, but only if it is done in a way that is fair, clear, and genuinely helps services improve.

"People in North Yorkshire want to understand how their NHS is performing. League tables can help with that, but only if they are meaningful, easy to understand, and lead to real change.

"It’s also important to recognise that these results don’t tell the full story. NHS staff and services across our county are doing their very best in extremely challenging times, with fewer staff and tighter resources than ever before. Any performance measure must be seen in that context."

What Healthwatch think is essential

We believe:

• Accountability must follow transparency. Where services are falling behind, local people deserve to know why, what is being done, and when improvements will be seen.
• Recognition of good work. League tables should not just highlight challenges but also showcase successes. This is so that good practice can be celebrated and shared.
• Clarity & relevance of information. Data and rankings need to be communicated in plain English, avoiding jargon. Metrics should reflect what matters most to patients: safe care, reasonable wait times, being listened to, compassion.
• Support, not just scrutiny. Publicly available rankings should lead not only to accountability but to support for trusts that are struggling. These might be struggles through funding, staffing, or bigger changes.

How Healthwatch helps

As the independent champion for people who use health and social care services in North Yorkshire, we also:

• Help people find the information and advice they need to understand their health and care options.
• Support people in making informed decisions for themselves, their loved ones, and those they care for.
• Gather your experiences, both good and bad, and use them to challenge the system, provide feedback, and push for improvements.