NHS hospitals in the region were celebrating yesterday after being named among the best in Britain.

Eight NHS Trusts in the North-East and North Yorkshire were included in the 40 which received the accolade from CHKS, a firm measuring health care performance.

The 40 top-performing hospitals were selected from more than 100 NHS Trusts and included City Hospitals in Sunderland, Newcastle, North Durham, South Durham, Northumbria, York, South Tees, North Tees and Hartlepool.

However, the awards drew puzzlement in some areas, such as York District Hospital, where there is an on-going bed shortage problem, and Shotley Bridge in North Durham, which has been downgraded over the years.

Patrick Crowley, director of performance management at York Health Services NHS Trust, said the criteria reflected the quality of the service.

"It's an indication that, despite all the difficulties, we are still able to reach a good performance," he said.

The hospitals were rated on 13 different performance targets and Department of Health data from last year.

They included mortality rates, time taken to discharge stroke patients, length of hospital stays, waiting times and the number of operations that resulted in complications.

South Durham Healthcare Trust chief executive John Saxby said: "We are delighted to have been given this award. It reflects well on the skill, dedication and professionalism of our clinical staff and demonstrates the high standard of care we provide to our patients."

Julien Hartley, director of acute services at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust, said it reflected the hard work carried out by their clinical staff.