THE much-criticised health trust that provides services to people living in Ludlow and south Shropshire has something to celebrate.

This comes after the Shropshire and Telford NHS Trust was put into special measures.

But the trust which runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals is the ninth best in the country for making sure patients wait no longer than 18 weeks between seeing their GP and having treatment at hospital.

It has hit the national 92 per cent referral to treatment target for 14 of the past 15 months.

In October 2018, 93.5 per cent of the trust’s patients received planned operations or planned care within 18 weeks of being referred to hospital – above the 92 per cent target and the national average of 87.1 per cent.

The trust is ranked ninth out of 126 hospital trusts in the UK for ensuring patients have planned operations and care within 18 weeks of referral.

“Tackling this issue has been one of our top priorities and continuing to hit this milestone is great for our patients and marks a fantastic achievement for our staff,” said Nigel Lee, chief operating officer.

“We are very proud of the good standards of care we continue to provide and delighted to find ourselves ranked in the top 10 performing hospitals for this key target.”

The 92 per cent target is one of the Government’s key access targets and a patient right within the NHS Constitution say health chiefs..