AN INDEPENDENT study has found Basingstoke hospital to be the most improved in the UK.

It was given the title by hospital benchmarking company CHKS, which looked at 17 key areas, including the time patients spend in the hospital and day surgery statistics.

The study, which looked at the performance of 120 hospitals, also placed Basingstoke hospital within the top 40 performers in Britain. It is the second year running that the hospital has been placed in the elite grouping.

Other factors considered included the number of patients on waiting lists for less than six months and MRSA infection rates. It looked at performance in 2003 and the difference from 2002.

Martyn Dell, director of planning at Basingstoke hospital, said: "The CHKS awards are rightly considered to be of great value and prestige as they judge the hospital's performance against a wide range of measures. This success is the outcome of another year of hard and committed work by all the trust's staff."

Reports are sent regularly by the company to the hospital's management board. Mr Dell said: "Because of the improvements, we have asked that, in the future, our reports compare us against the very best in the country."

The award, a wall plaque, will be hung in the trust's boardroom.