A GROUP which represents the over 50s has ranked Weston General Hospital 199th out of 223 hospitals in England in a survey. The hospital scored just one credit out of a possible ten in the latest Saga Hospital Guide 2006. In its guide to UK hospitals Saga

A GROUP which represents the over 50s has ranked Weston General Hospital 199th out of 223 hospitals in England in a survey.The hospital scored just one credit out of a possible ten in the latest Saga Hospital Guide 2006.In its guide to UK hospitals Saga, a company providing services for those aged 50 and over, used a traffic light system with red, amber and green ratings to show how the hospital scores in different categories. One credit is awarded for each green light the hospital gets.Weston General Hospital got red lights for the percentage of inpatients undergoing procedure within six months and the percentage of outpatients seen within 13 weeks. Its one green light was for the average wait time for a hip replacement. Both inpatient waiting and also the percentage of patients with confidence in their attending doctor both came close to achieving green lights.A hospital spokesman said: "Dr Foster and Saga gathered this information during the summer of last year. Since December, Weston has unfailingly achieved the maximum waiting times of six months for inpatients and 13 weeks for outpatient appointments."Therefore, if the survey was to be undertaken today, the hospital would have no 'red' scores. The survey looked at the work of our orthopaedic department and found patients wait only 153 days for a hip replacement operation here compared with a national average wait of 245 days."This accurately reflects the high standards of the department which is very important as we serve an area with a substantial and growing number of elderly people.