"Delighted" hospital chiefs have vowed to further improve patient care in south-west Hertfordshire, after rising standards were recognised by the government's health watchdog.

For the past two years, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust has received a "double weak" rating for its quality of services and use of resources in the annual Healthcare Commission's healthcheck, prompting it to be named among the worst Trusts in the country.

Last year's report led to the resignation of then-chief executive David Law.

For 2007/08, however, the Trust received a "fair" rating in both categories. In particular, the Trust met guidelines on self-harm, drug use and hit targets for patients waiting longer than three months for revascularisation - reopening the coronary arteries when people have a heart attack.

Fiona Goodall, area manager, described the Trust's improvement as "good news".

She said: "This result demonstrates they have made movement in the right direction. They will be aware of the areas where there is still room for improvement. As long as we see that continuing, it's not a major cause for concern. It's a positive improvement and the Trust should be congratulated."

Following the healthcheck report published today(Thursday), the Trust, which runs Watford General Hospital, St Albans City Hospital and Hemel Hempstead General Hospital, claimed it is already performing at an higher level, "among the best in the country".

Chief executive Jan Filochowski said: "I am very pleased the Healthcare Commission has recognised the enormous improvements we have now achieved. This is excellent news for our patients and for us.

"This time last year it seemed we were destined for another double weak rating. It is through the immense hard work of all our staff that we have improved so significantly since then. We are at the start of an ambitious but vital journey. There is more to come.

"Whilst there are, of course, still areas for improvement, some changes have been dramatic. For example, our infection rates and our waiting times have improved faster than practically anywhere else in the country, in each case from being among the worst in the country to being among the best. We have also consistently achieved the national target of seeing everyone in A&E within four hours.

"Last, but not least, for the first time in many years the Trust is making a financial surplus and will be debt free by 2010."

In 2007/08, the Trust recorded a surplus of £2.5million and intends to make a surplus of £4.5million in each of the next two years, entirely erasing its debt of around £9million.This, director of corporate affairs David McNeil said, has been and will be achieved through "improved efficiency and better and stronger management".

He added the hospital has seen just nine cases of MRSA in the past six months, while Clostridium difficile has been reduced by 90 per cent.

"We're over the moon," Mr McNeil said. "This is really good for us. It's a fantastic effort from the staff.

"But fair isn't excellent. There are still a number of areas we need to improve on. We need to aim to be excellent. We need to aim not to cancel anyone's operations, we need to get 100 per cent through A&E in four hours, not 99 per cent."