Hartlepool and Stockton hospitals still have ‘higher-than-expected” death rate

A total of nine hospital management bodies recorded more deaths than expected, according to official figures released today.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), which calculated the data, said the ratings act as a “smoke alarm” for trusts but are not a direct measure of quality of care.

The public body said 15 trusts were found to have lower-than-expected mortality rates while the remaining 113 trusts were “as expected” for the period July 2013 to June 2014.

The HSCIC say the “summary hospital-level mortality indicator” is calculated by comparing the number of patients who die after being admitted to hospital in each trust with the number that would be expected to die, based upon the national average and the characteristics of the patients being treated.

The other two trusts which were found to have a higher-than-expected death rate for the second year running were Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Kingsley Manning, chair of the HSCIC, said: “The SHMI gives trusts a way of comparing their mortality outcomes to the national baseline.

“This information can then be used with other indicators and evidence as a prompt for trusts to undertake further investigations of their services where necessary.”