The government's star rating system for hospitals has been branded "nonsense" by the Liberal Democrats.

The differences between hospitals with different ratings were not reflected in a recent patient survey by the Commission for Health Improvement, Dr Evan Harris said on Monday.

Critics say the government's star rating system, which will be used to determine which NHS trusts become foundation hospitals, is deeply flawed.

Published last week, the poll of more than 250,000 patients found that overall they had confidence and trust in those treating them, and felt that they were listened to.

But concerns were expressed about the information given about certain medication, the risks and benefits of treatments, who to contact if they were concerned about their condition and the waiting times for appointments.

"The government sacks managers on the basis of zero stars and demoralises the staff at hospitals like my local hospital in Oxford," Harris told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"People don't do worse in these zero star trusts clinically.

"And what this shows is that actually the experience of patients which the government uses to defend these nonsense star ratings shows there is no difference. It is a political excuse."