SWINDON and Marlborough NHS Trust, which operates our main hospital, has just been awarded two stars out of a possible three by Government inspectors, the same as it was last year.

So there is still room for improvement. But the rating is a credit to the staff, the stress of whose regular jobs has been added to by the move from one hospital to another.

Meanwhile, Swindon Primary Care Trust, which oversees local health services, has been awarded two stars in its first year of existence, which is creditable indeed for a new organisation.

But Wiltshire Ambulance Service NHS trust has slipped from two stars to none at all because of a consistent failure to reach Government targets for arriving at emergency scenes within eight minutes.

Ambulance trust chief executive, Dennis Lauder, says strategies for improvement are well in hand. That is good news.

After all, there is no point in having high class medical services without the wherewithal to get patients to them on time.