Birmingham hospitals criticised for death rates in report
A BIRMINGHAM NHS hospital trust responsible for treating the country’s injured troops has been identified as having one of the worst death rates for “low risk” patients in the UK.
University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust (UHB) received a damning review in the Dr Foster’s Hospital Guide for mortality figures. It also revealed medics repeatedly left surgical equipment inside patients during operations.
The Trust, which runs Selly Oak and Edgbaston’s Queen Elizabeth hospitals, was one of only four trusts in England to report “significantly higher” deaths in patients being treated for non-life-threatening conditions, like a hernia or flu.
Independent inspectors also criticised the hospitals for leaving 11 “foreign objects” in patients after surgery in a year and for operating on a significantly low number of hip fracture patients within two days.
A score of 100 or less on the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio is the norm, according to the study, but the Trust’s death rates are 111 for 2008-09 – meaning 11 per cent more patients died than expected.
Dudley Group of Hospitals Foundation Trust was also identified for having higher than normal death rates of 112 and for only performing 32 per cent of CT scans for stroke patients in 24 hours.
Bosses at the Birmingham Trust have refuted the findings and said they were considering launching legal action against Dr Foster claiming the method used to calculate mortality rates was “fundamentally flawed”.
Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at UHB Trust, said the Dr Foster Guide was “a waste of time” and that death rates were a “distraction” away from quality of care.
“We are taking advice from our lawyers about redress,” he said.
“The mortality rate has decreased from 7.1 per cent to 6.6 per cent in the past year. Their analysis takes no account of significant, potentially fatal co-existing conditions.”
UHB works with the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Selly Oak to provide treatment for most British soldiers injured around the world.
Other NHS bosses to come under fire included Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust over surgical instruments being left in patients at least six times in a year and only 23 per cent of patients receiving CT scans within the recommended 24 hours after a stroke.
n Some Trusts gained positive results with Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust gaining a favourable rating for being most improved and reducing its death rates by 34 per cent.
That comes after the damning Healthcare Commission report this year revealed cuts to staffing and care led to at least 400 patients dying unnecessarily for two years up to 2007.
Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust were also praised for cutting mortality rates by 32 per cent.
