HOSPITALS and primary health care trusts in the west are among the worst in the country according to new NHS figures.

Bath's Royal United Hospital (RUH) and the three trusts serving north and west Wiltshire received zero stars in the latest round of performance ratings.

The results have sparked fears that health care provision in the county is failing with examples of long waiting lists, poor ambulance response times and crippling debts.

Patients are being forced to look abroad for quick-fix treatments.

Geoff Scaife, chief executive of the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority, which manages the PCTs and NHS Trusts in the area, said they would strive for an improvement next year.

"We will be working very closely with the whole health community to produce performance improvement plans which will move the three PCTs up from zero," he said.

Melksham councillor Vic Oakman, a member of the town's health steering group, said health care in the county was a "shambles".

He said: "The government is putting more money in, but it is good money after bad.

"There is not enough health care provision for an area of this size people in Wiltshire are being let down."

Health chiefs have criticised the star-rating scheme because they say hospitals are being forced to try to meet meaningless targets, rather than concentrate on providing appropriate care.

West Wiltshire MP Dr Andrew Murrison said: "I do not rate star ratings because they distort clinical priorities. They give a misleading impression of health care provided by NHS Trusts.

"I am disappointed there has not been evidence of improvements in the limited measures that the star rating system covers."

Trusts were assessed on a range of government targets, from the length of time patients wait for treatment to the number of patients who die after surgery.

Ambulance and mental health care were also assessed and primary care trusts were included for the first time.

Dr Murrison said: "The RUH in Bath has consistently produced services of a high quality and I'm satisfied that my constituents are well served."

The independent watchdog, the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI), compiled the figures, which reflect the trusts' performance during 2002/03.

It insists low ratings based on poor performance do not necessarily mean a hospital is unsafe or that staff are not working hard.

Trusts were awarded up to three stars based on their performance. A zero-star rating means the trust either fails against key targets or has poor clinical control.