A report on NHS hospital trusts in England has found twelve "significantly underperforming" despite another recent report having rated eight of them as good or excellent.

The new report has also found 27 trusts showing higher than expected death rates which inevitably increases the number of NHS complaints made against the trusts.

Monitoring body Dr Foster that produced the report also found that overall deaths in English hospitals were down by 7%, though it had found instances of medical negligence where swabs had been left in over 200 patients, and other NHS negligence problems amongst over 5,000 occasions of patients admitted to hospital with low risk conditions dying.

The report shows quality of care varies across England with the director of Dr Foster’s commenting: "No hospital in the world would claim to be free of these kinds of errors, but what has been learned over the years is that recording what is happening, and making that information generally public, is the best way to start tackling the issues."

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) who issued the official ratings earlier this year said they saw no reason to intervene, with their chairwoman Baroness Young describing the Dr Foster report as part legitimate, part alarmist.

Last Thursday the CQC sent a task force to Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust following unusually high death rates and major lapses in hygiene.

On Friday at the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust the chairman was sacked following death rates above what is expected, and no improvement to patient waiting times.

The twelve NHS Hospital Trusts found to be underperforming by the Dr Foster report are the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire; Weston Area Health Trust; South London Healthcare Trust; Tameside Hospital Foundation Trust; University Hospital of South Manchester; St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals Trust; Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust; Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals Foundation Trust; Hereford Hospitals Trust; Basildon and Thurrock; Lewisham; and Scarborough and North East Yorkshire.

The CQC report had shown the St Helens and Knowsley as rated excellent, three others being the Mid Yorkshire, Weston Area and Scarborough and North East Yorkshire rated as fair, with another seven of the rest achieving good ratings.

The Health Secretary Andy Burnham has ordered an immediate review by regulators to find out if any other trusts require investigating following the events at Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust and the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust last week.

AA Department for Health Spokesman referring to the CQC said that they would: "keep the situation under close review and report back to the health secretary with any further concerns".

Adding: "The vast majority of patients experience high quality, safe and effective care and the QC's recent survey showed that 93% of patients rate their overall care as good or excellent."

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