The inspections involve local patient representatives visiting hospitals to check criteria including cleanliness, food, building maintenance, dementia care and disability access.

The trust also achieved scores above the national average in every category of NHS England's latest assessment of care environments.

Scott Malton, chief nursing officer at Mid Cheshire Hospitals, said: ‘We're delighted to have achieved ratings that are higher than the national average across all areas. This success is a testament to the amazing efforts of our staff, who all work incredibly hard to ensure we provide high quality, compassionate care to every person, every time.

‘As a trust we're focussed on listening to our communities and understanding what matters most to them, so we can improve the experience for them. These scores show we are doing this across several areas and we are committed to continuing this progress in the future.'

Mid Cheshire Hospitals scored 99.23% for privacy, dignity and wellbeing, placing it first out of 23 acute trusts in the North West, and sixth out of all 119 acute trusts nationally.

The trust ranked among the top 10 in the North West across all eight PLACE categories, with top five positions regionally for disability access, building maintenance and overall food provision.