HEALTH bosses under fire over Huddersfield's maternity cuts got just the tonic they needed today.

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust was labelled "good" in new performance figures.

Delighted acting chief executive Helen Thomson said the result was a testament to hard-working staff.

She said: "They can rightly be proud of the part they have played in bringing about these results."

The trust, which runs hospitals, hit virtually every target, such as on waiting times in casualty and cancer treatment.

But it fell short in reducing smoking and obesity.

Hospitals are judged in today's ratings by care standards, safety and cleanliness.

Four per cent of 570 NHS trusts got the highest rating of "excellent", while 36% were "good".

Just over half were "fair", while 9% of trusts were "weak".

The annual health checks replace old star ratings for health bodies.

Also branded good was South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust.

Its 2,400 staff run services at 60 sites, including St Luke's Hospital in Huddersfield.

Acting chief executive Steven Mitchell said: "We have worked hard to offer services that are modern and effective and that meet the needs of individuals."

West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Trust gets the "weak" tag. It is among six ambulance trusts penalised for submitting unreliable data.

Huddersfield's two primary care trusts are branded only "fair".

Both organisations were absorbed into a new primary care trust covering the whole of Kirklees at the beginning of the month.

Mike Potts, the new trust's chief executive, said: "We do have some challenges ahead particularly around managing our finances but we have a robust turnaround plan in place to address this."

THE Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, covering the Wakefield district and North Kirklees, has been listed as weak on quality of services and managing finances.

The acute NHS trust was found to be among eight acute trusts across England which needed to improve in these areas.

The result comes in a survey of 570 trusts in England by the Healthcare Commission.

Those ranked included primary care, acute, mental health and ambulance trusts.

The Health Check, relating to the year 2005/06, replaces the old star ratings system.

The Commission said strategic health authorities (SHAs) would call for action plans within 30 days for those trusts, alongside the 11 primary care trusts, four ambulance trusts and one mental health trust rated as weak in both areas.

Commission chief executive Anna Walker said the overall review showed plenty of examples of good performance.

But she added: "What we are saying about the weak ones is not that they are unsafe but that they do have issues they need to address quickly."