People living in Dorset “should be proud of their local NHS” a health chief has said.

Tim Goodson, chief officer of the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has spoken out following recent inspections of major NHS service providers in the county.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) awarded ‘good’ ratings to Dorset County Hospital, Dorset HealthCare and South Western Ambulance Service.

Poole Hospital and the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals also received good ratings.

Mr Goodson says he is “delighted” with the results of this year’s inspections.

He said: “At a time when the NHS is seeing increased demands and a number of significant challenges, having all our major providers rated as good is testament to the continuing hard work of everyone in the NHS throughout the county, and I am both delighted and proud that we have achieved this.

“I would like to pass on my congratulations to all those involved for their hard work and dedication to patient care.”

The CQC regularly inspects organisations that provide health services, publishing their findings along with an overall performance rating.

During a visit the CQC inspects eight core services to ensure they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

As reported, Patricia Miller, chief executive of Dorset County Hospital, praised staff after it won a good rating from the CQC, upgrading from its 2016 inspection which saw the hospital rated as ‘requires improvement’.

Following the publication of the CQC’s findings last week, she said: “It has been a true team effort and we are immensely proud of what has been achieved.”