Three in five NHS trusts in England are failing basic standards of care and safety set by the government, it emerged this week.

The failings were admitted by the trusts themselves in the first ever national self assessment exercise, which replaces the star rating system.

The most common breaches included failure to decontaminate reusable equipment, poor management of patients' records, lack of compliance with guidelines on diagnosis and treatment, and faults in staff training procedures.

Just over a third of trusts claimed to be meeting all the Healthcare Commission's 44 core standards of basic competence. A quarter admitted failing at least four standards, and 10 trusts said they were deficient on at least 14. Any trust that failed 14 or more standards was judged to have failed overall.

Anna Walker, the chief executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: “We are encouraged by the …