ASHFORD and St Peters Hospitals Trust received a welcome boost to its morale after being given the thumbs up in a major independent health watchdog report.

After an appalling no star rating in the NHS's review of national hospitals, staff were anxious to see whether they would get a similar battering under the Commission for Health Improvement clinical governance review, which took place at both hospitals between March and July this year.

However, they were delighted when the findings of the enquiry, which were released on Friday last week, praised the trust for its robust and comprehensive risk management processes.