Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: "We strongly welcome the government's commitment to driving up standards of care on behalf of patients, and tackling poor performance before it becomes a crisis.

"As the regulator, the Healthcare Commission already identifies both good and bad performance. We see significant variations in standards of care, much of which relates to the quality of leadership and management.

"We will continue to play our part, working with the strategic health authority and Monitor, to tackle any under-performance we identify.

"We expect that the management of 'challenged' trusts will dovetail into the regulatory activity of the Healthcare Commission and the work of the Care Quality Commission in the future."

Healthcare Commission