THE county’s hospitals authority has been rated satisfactory by the official watchdog.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUHT) was given a three out of six rating under the new regime by the Care Quality Commission.
It uses more than 150 measures including patient and staff experiences to rank trusts.
It will now inspect England’s acute hospital 161 trusts from the worst to best. The changes have been made following concerns regulators missed scandals like deaths at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
The OUHT – which runs Oxford’s John Radcliffe, Churchill and Nuffield Orthopaedic hospitals and Banbury’s Horton General – is expected to get an inspection early next year.
This is because it is hoping to get foundation trust status to give it more independence, including the freedom to retain cash surpluses.
Trust chief executive Sir Jonathan Michael said: “A lot of work has gone into preparing the organisation for this process and we are happy to welcome the CQC inspection teams in, sometime in early 2014.”
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