Local Hospitals Have Lowest Mortality Rates in Country
New statistics "important measure of quality and safety"
New statistics released by the NHS Information Centre show that our local hospitals are among those with the lowest mortality rate in the country.
The new Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator, or SHMI, data shows that Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has the fourth lowest rate in the country while Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has the seventh lowest.
The SHMI compares the actual number of patients who die following treatment with the number who would be expected to die. Our hospitals were all in the "lower than expected" category.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust comprises Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea, St Mary's, Charing Cross and Western Eye hospitals.
The Trust’s medical director Professor David Taube says: " This is a very important independent measure of the quality and safety of the care we provide and of our clinical outcomes. This should be reassuring to us and our patients."
Chief executive Mark Davies adds: "This is very good news at a difficult time in the NHS. Providing patients with high quality safe care, of which this rate is one of the best measures, is our absolute priority. I would like to thank staff for all their continued dedication and hard work."
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital's Chief Executive Heather Lawrence says: " While the SHMI should be looked at in conjunction with other indicators, I am delighted that we have earned this independent recognition of the safety of our services.
" We welcome the new indicators because they provide hospitals with a national benchmark against which they can measure their performance.
" It’s also important that patients are provided with a range of information which they can use to assess how their local hospital is performing. Being more open and transparent is a priority for Chelsea and Westminster and this new indicator will help our patients develop an informed and balanced picture about how we are performing."
NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan says: “The SHMI is best treated as a ‘smoke alarm’ that should be used locally by individual hospital trusts to assess and investigate their mortality-related outcomes.
“The SHMI marks a major step forward for the NHS, as it will be the single summary hospital-level mortality indicator that will be used consistently across the NHS.”
November 4, 2011
