Dr Foster rated death rates in hospitals, deaths after surgery and a range of other measures An analysis of deaths in English hospitals has found 19 NHS trusts have rates that are higher than would be expected.
But monitoring body Dr Foster’s annual assessment of 147 trusts shows an improvement on 2009, when the figure was 27, the Observer newspaper reports.
The survey also shows that four trusts had a higher than expected number of patients who died after surgery.
The NHS Confederation said the report showed where the NHS “could do better”.
Dr Foster’s survey looks at overall death rates and deaths after surgery as well as a range of other indicators to try and build a picture of patient care.
Two trusts – Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals and University Hospitals Birmingham – had higher than expected overall death rates and deaths after surgery.
Source: Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2010
A spokesman for Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust said its figures reflected that it looks after a population with the highest rates of smoking in the country, along with alcohol problems, obesity and heart disease, and that many of the patents who walk through its doors are already very ill.
Roger Taylor, director of research at Dr Foster, said overall, there does seem to have been an improvement since last year.
“It’s getting better, that’s the good news.
“Safety standards are improving, mortality rates are falling, the variation between the best and the worst is getting less.
“However, we do still have a long way to go in terms of involving patients in decisions about their care, enabling them to understand what their options are and ensuring they can always reliably and safely get the best quality care.”
The report acknowledges the figures cannot be taken in isolation but should act more like an alarm to point up possible areas of concern.
“What we must do with this is start asking questions: Go on the ward, look, judge and improve where we need to”
Richard Hamblin Care Quality Commision
Richard Hamblin of the NHS safety regulator the Care Quality Commission says they are a useful tool if used properly.
“If a mortality rate is higher than we would expect, or higher than it is elsewhere, we need to start asking why is this?
“Are the patients sicker? Is it that the care is worse? Is it something to do with how the details of the patients are being recorded?
“What we must do with this is start asking questions: Go on the ward, look, judge and improve where we need to.”
Of greater concern perhaps are more than 62,000 accidents, mistakes or avoidable complications recorded across all 147 hospital trusts.
The report says many incidents go unrecorded – so the true number may be much higher.
Nigel Edwards, acting chief executive of the NHS Confederation which represents the majority of NHS organisations, said: “These are important figures which demonstrate the progress that has been made in many parts of the NHS towards providing better and safer standards of care.
“The news that there has been a reduction in the numbers of hospitals where there are concerns over mortality rates demonstrates the efforts that are being made to improve services, but there is no room for complacency.”
He added: “There are still parts of our health system where particular services are having problems, and for the hospitals concerned this report presents an opportunity to learn and improve.
“There will always be variations in any nationwide system but the golden principle must be that our NHS is safe for the patients who rely on it – this report shows where we can do better.”
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