WINCHESTER and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust, which manages the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester, and Andover War Memorial Hospital, has been rated "fair" for the quality of services and "weak" for use of resources by the Healthcare Commission.

Chief executive, Chris Evennett, said: "These ratings validate our Fit for the Future Programme to make radical improvements to the way we deliver services and manage our finances. I'm confident our plans will turn the situation around."

The trust failed on two out of 13 national targets - cancelled operations and delayed transfers of care (patients who remain in hospital after they are well enough to leave). Mr Evennett said: "Delayed transfers are complex and not totally within our power to put right. This trust and Hampshire County Council must give this greater priority.

"The adult services department plays an important role and has a joint responsibility in helping to find the right setting for patients to move to when they no longer need hospital care. It is disappointing that the delayed transfers have had such a damaging effect on our rating.

"Our patients, their families and carers also have a role to play by working with us to ensure that plans are in place for a safe discharge as soon as possible. Fewer delayed transfers will help us treat other patients, avoid cancellations and contribute to our savings plan."

The national delayed transfers ratio indicates how far Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust is from the national average. Its score was 5.95per cent, against a national median of 1.933per cent.

Referring to cancelled operations, Mr Evennett said: "We are setting up more pre-assessment clinics which help us to check that patients are ready for surgery. This and better bed and medical records management will help us cut the number of cancellations."

Among other national targets, treatment of heart attack patients continues to be an area of success: the trust was one of just 47 per cent to administer clot-busting drugs within an hour of the initial emergency call.

The trust was recently graded by the Health Protection Agency as fourth-best in the country for low MRSA rates, so it was not surprising this was achieved in the Healthcare Commission rating, system, too.

Mr Evennett said: "Not achieving targets does not mean services are poor or worse than before. In many cases, rising standards make success harder to attain. Progress in areas where we compared less well has been encouraging: our figures from the first quarter of 2006-07 show 97 per cent achievement, against the 62-day cancer treatment target of 95 per cent."

He added: "Letters from patients and support from the public is clear indication our services are greatly valued. We now need to drive forward our plans to ensure that we can continue to provide good quality local services."