The Countess has received a 40Top Hospitals Award for the eleventh year in succession

The Countess of Chester Hospital received a 40 Top Hospitals Award for the eleventh year in succession, one of only five Trusts in the country to achieve this. The awards have only been in existence for eleven years meaning that the Countess has successfully received the award every year since it was comprised in 2001.

The winners were announced by CHKS, the UK's leading independent provider of healthcare
intelligence and quality improvement services.

As well as individual awards for patient safety, quality of care and data quality, CHKS celebrates excellence amongst its clients across the UK with the 40Top Awards. These are based on the evaluation of 21 key performance indicators covering safety, clinical effectiveness, health outcomes, efficiency, patient experience and quality of care.

Dr Virginia Clough, the Trust's Medical Director, said: "This is the fourth successive year that I have had the privilege to collect this award on behalf of the Countess of Chester Hospital. In a difficult year of change and financial pressure we have still been recognised nationally as a top performing hospital."

She added: "I pay tribute to the hard work put in by all members of staff at the Countess. Of particular pleasure has been our sustained success in tackling Healthcare Associated Infections. The fact that we have not had a single case of MRSA Bacteraemia since June 2010 is one of our many achievements in the past year."

James Coles, Director of Research, CHKS, said: "We are delighted that the Countess of Chester Hospital is one of our 40Top Hospitals for 2011. These awards recognise outstanding performance in the areas which we believe are critical to delivering good patient care."