Cashel Folk Village
The first league table of health authorities has revealed Manchester to be the worst performing region in the UK.
Oxfordshire has the best health care provision, according to a league table drawn up by health think tank the King's Fund, along with Channel 4.
The so-called Sick List is based on death rates from cancer and heart disease, hospital waiting lists, hip operations and deaths from "avoidable" diseases such as TB and asthma.
The King's Fund and Channel 4 also commissioned a MORI poll and asked people to decide which of the criteria they felt should have the most priority in the health service.
Most people put spending on heart disease and cancer at the top of the list, while funding for tackling waiting lists and hip operations was seen as less important.
The King's Fund then looked at how the results matched the actual performance of health authorities and ranked them accordingly.
Experts said the league table showed that some of the country's most deprived areas had the worst healthcare provision.
Manchester has the highest rates in the country for heart disease, cancer and avoidable diseases.
A spokesman for Manchester Health Authority said: "I think this league table is misleading because it suggests that Manchester is failing in its role, when in fact we are dealing with people who live in some of the most deprived areas of the UK."
"The health authority has done a lot of good work and has improved health under very difficult conditions. There are problems, but great strides are being made."
