48 hours after Ed Miliband claimed that private companies were sending the NHS “backwards”, Circle-run Hinchingbrooke Hospital has been named the best hospital in England:

“Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust has been named the top hospital in England for quality of care at an awards ceremony in London last night. The 25th annual CHKS Top Hospitals Awards ranked all healthcare providers across the UK. The CHKS award for top quality of care was judged by an expert panel based on 12 key medical indicators including: how long patients had to stay in hospital after treatment, mortality rates, cancer waiting times and patient-reported outcomes.”

Which makes Ed’s speech look a little silly, especially the the bit about how Cameron “has put the principles of markets and competition at the heart of the NHS like never before”:

“A boost for the private companies and competition lawyers.

A burden for everyone else.

Competition.

Fragmentation.

And privatisation.

That’s how the Tories see the future of our NHS.

That’s why it is going backwards.

Friends, they’re the wrong principles and the wrong priorities from the wrong government.”

If you open the window and listen carefully, that distant wailing you can hear is Andy Burnham reading this…