NHS Oversight Framework rankings

Imperial College Healthcare was the best performing teaching trust in the country for the second quarter of the year (July 2025 – September 2025), according to the latest NHS league tables, published on 11 December 2025.

The Trust – which provides care from Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea, St Mary’s and Western Eye hospitals – ranked 11th out of all 134 acute trusts in England. With the top seven places taken by single specialty acute trusts, Imperial College Healthcare was second amongst all non-specialist acute trusts.

The league tables score each NHS trust quarterly for their performance against metrics in the ‘NHS Oversight Framework’, which reflect the delivery of NHS priorities, including reducing waiting times, ensuring patient safety, improving patient and staff experience and staying within budget. Each trust is ranked by their average score across these metrics and placed in one of four equal groups. Top-performing trusts are to be rewarded with greater autonomy, including the ability to reinvest surplus budgets into frontline improvements such as new diagnostic equipment and hospital upgrades.

For the first quarter of the year – the first ever set of rankings – the trust was 11th best performing overall, second best teaching trust and third best non-specialist trust.

Professor Tim Orchard, chief executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “Our ranking reflects a huge amount of hard work and planning, and I am very grateful to our staff and partners for their dedication and expertise.

“We know there is always more to do, and this winter is already proving challenging. However, the resilience, teamwork and commitment to learning shown by our staff give us confidence that we can keep improving and provide the best possible care for our patients.”

Access the NHS trust performance league tables process and results here.