The Royal United Hospital in Bath was one of eight acute trusts awarded no stars in the latest ratings.

The reality of the experience that they will have when they are being cared for in this hospital will be quite different from the headline news

Maggie Crowe

It failed in four target areas measuring the wait for operations, and in another measuring the effectiveness of financial management.

The hospital hit the headlines earlier in the year when it discovered more people were waiting for treatment than previously thought.

A report about the hospital's problems led the chairman of the RUH to step down and its finance director to be suspended.

Senior nurse Maggie Crowe said the naming and shaming of the hospital would cause unnecessary worry for patients.

She said: "That is really sad because the reality of the experience that they will have when they are being cared for in this hospital will be quite different from the headline news.

"One where staff are providing very high standards of care, and are working extremely hard against the sort of odds we are facing at the moment."

Good care

Dr John Waldron, the hospital's medical director, said he was "absolutely certain" his hospital was not the worst in the country.

He said the figures showed that the hospital was well above average in important categories related to treatment patients received once they were admitted.

"However, where we do fall down is that although the quality of care here is very good when patients get in, they are unfortunately waiting too long to get into the hospital."

He said there had also been significant advances in tackling long waits since the information on which the performance ratings are based was collected.

In December, 1,400 patients were waiting more than six months for an out-patient appointment, now the figure was down to 42.

Similarly, the number of patients waiting more than 15 months for admission to hospital has fallen from 271 in May, to 39 this week.

Dr Waldron said the zero star rating was upsetting for staff, and might make it difficult for them to focus immediately on the problems.

"They will be very disappointed, there is no-one who would want to be in this position, but I hope that once they have recovered from this disappointment it will help them re-double their efforts so we can turn the hospital round and get a better rating next year."