FAIRFIELD General Hospital has been praised for its prompt treatment of heart attack patients.

The Sunday Times "Dr Foster's Good Hospital Guide" singled out the Bury hospital for providing 86 per cent of heart attack admissions with clot-busting drugs within 20 minutes of arrival.

The hospital was also commended for its new £700,000 pharmacy and investment in its intensive care unit.

The report also highlighted North Manchester General Hospital's audiology service, which has joined the neonatal hearing screening programme allowing it to screen babies soon after birth for hearing problems.

However, mortality levels within the Pennine Acute Hospital Trust, which governs both hospitals along with Rochdale Infirmary and The Royal Oldham Hospital, are ten per cent higher than the average.

Although the report does state that inpatient waiting lists are among the 40 shortest in England, this is despite staffing levels being in the bottom ten nationally for doctors and bottom 30 for nurses.

The Trust received top marks for providing patients with "good food".

A spokesman for the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We very much welcome the highlighting of some, if not all, of the very good work being done in our hospitals, not just in Bury and North Manchester but in Rochdale and Oldham. Staff work very hard day in day out to provide the absolute best service for patients. And it is good to see this recognised in reports such as these."

Hospital bosses said major health problems in the area contributed to the higher than average mortality rates.