LITTLE has changed in the state of health care in and around Swindon in the past year, according to the annual health check ratings.

And the small changes which have registered for the 2006/7 financial year have not in the main part been for the best.

Swindon Primary Care Trust, which runs doctors' and dental surgeries in the town, has gained a lower rating in both its quality of services and the use of resources, with each dropping from "good" to "fair".

Despite the drops in the ratings from good to fair, PCT bosses are celebrating the overall result.

Chief executive Caroline Fowles said: "It is good news to get confirmation that we are getting the basics right for residents and patients, such as patient safety, clinical effectiveness and patient focus.

"The indicators show sustained performance and some real improvements in areas which really matter to patients."

Assessments such as access to a GP and gaining specialist cancer appointments within two weeks of referral are among those to have shown improvements.

The Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which runs the Great Western Hospital, was also lower this year on its quality of services, but was listed as having improved in its use of resources.

The hospital's managing trust moved from good in its services to fair, and from weak to good in finance.

Associate director Nathan Hall said the financial praise in the health check and the standards achieved in that area will help to develop better progress in the trust's quality of services.

"It's difficult to make improvements if you are in a weak financial position and we are not - so we're in a good place to move forward," he said.

Trust chief executive Lyn Hill-Tout said she was confident improvements had already been made in weaker areas such as stroke care and transfer of patients' care to provision outside the hospital itself.

She said: "We are obviously disappointed that our assessment for service quality is not as strong this time around."

The check-up does show that patients think their experience locally is above the national average for hospital care, and previous areas of weakness or failure, such as cancer referrals and the number of emergency day beds in use has improved.

The Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust, which launched in July last year, has been ranked as weak in both areas but its results cannot be fairly judged as they only take in three-quarters of the assessment period, and cannot be fairly compared with the previous set-ups.

The only element of health care in the area which has stayed at the same level during the 2006/7 year is the mental health provision, laid on by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust.

Across the south west, the Healthcare Commission found that the region does still have the highest proportion of "weak" trusts in terms of the quality of services.