Excellent rating for county's hospitals

Standards of cleanliness, food, and privacy at Shropshire's two main hospitals have all been rated as "excellent" by inspectors.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust which runs the Royal Shrewsbury and Telford's Princess Royal, is one of four NHS organisations to score excellent in all main categories in the annual assessment by the National Patient Safety Agency.

A trust spokesman said the ratings were a credit to its "passionate and committed" staff.

Oswestry's Orth-opaedic Hospital scored either "excellent" or "good" across the categories as did the Shropshire County Primary Care Trust which is responsible for the four community hospitals at Whitchurch, Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Bishop's Castle.

NHS Telford and Wrekin was not included in the inspections which check hospitals with more than 10 beds.