Shropshire hospitals were today rated “excellent” by the NHS regulator for the quality of their services.

But across the UK one in nine NHS trusts are performing badly or failing to improve.

And they must “do better for their patients”, the Quality Care Commission (CQC) said.

The 47 trusts at the bottom of performance tables now face an uphill struggle to meet new legal standards for the health service when they are introduced next year, the commission said.

An “excellent” rating for quality of services was given to both the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust and the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital Trust at Oswestry. Both are also scored as “good” for their financial management.

Last year the Shrewsbury and Telford trust was rated “good” for quality and “fair” on the financial front. The Oswestry trust was classed as “fair” on both counts.

Shropshire County Primary Care Trust is rated “fair” for quality and “good” for financial management – a reversal on last year’s scores.

Telford & Wrekin Primary Care Trust has seen its service quality rating improve to “good” from “fair”. Financial management is “fair”. The West Midlands Ambulance Trust has seen its quality rating drop from “excellent” to “fair” but financial management is “good”.

South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare Trust, which runs the county’s mental health service, is classed as “good” for quality and “excellent” for the way it manages finance.

The trusts performing badly received a stark warning from CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower that there must be rapid improvements in standards.

“They must do better for their patients,” she said.