Mortality rates better in county’s hospitals
Robert Mitchell Lanarkshire hospitals continue to make progress after a damning report triggered by unusually high death rates slammed the health board in 2013.
There has been a reduction in hospital standardised mortality ratios (HSMR) across the NHS Lanarkshire area, with all three acute hospitals performing better than the Scottish average.
The Scottish target is a 20 per cent reduction from the 2007 figures – Monklands Hospital achieved 25.4 per cent reduction, Wishaw General Hospital managed 22.7 per cent and Hairmyres Hospital had a 20.7 per cent reduction.
Calum Campbell, NHS Lanarkshire chief executive, said: “I am extremely pleased with the recently published figures. Our clinical and managerial staff work hard to provide the best quality service to our patients and these figures show that they are doing an excellent job.
“I hope they offer added reassurance to our patients and the communities we serve about the safety and quality of the care provided in our hospitals.”
HSMR is one measurement tool that compares a hospital’s mortality ratio with the overall average ratio. The ratio provides a starting point to assess the factors that can influence mortality and identify areas for improvement.
Professor Jason Leitch, clinical director for NHS Scotland, said: “These figures are excellent and the staff at NHS Lanarkshire are to be commended for all that they have done to reduce mortality at their hospitals by so much and in such a short time.”
Robbie Pearson, acting chief executive of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, added: “NHS Lanarkshire have clearly made significant progress in improving services for patients and families since the Healthcare Improvement Scotland rapid review carried out in 2013.
“This reflects favourably on the hard work and dedication of the staff at NHS Lanarkshire.”
NHS Lanarkshire introduced a range of initiatives and improvement works which enabled their sustained impressive performance against the national improvement aim. When tracked over time, HSMR indicates how successful this work has been.
Dr Jane Burns, NHS Lanarkshire Acute Divisional Medical Director, said: “All of our staff should be very proud of their efforts to reduce mortality and enhance patient safety in our hospitals.
“Together we have achieved an overall improvement in our unscheduled care performance, we have reduced length of stay and unplanned readmissions and we have earlier recognition and treatment of patients whose condition is deteriorating.
“While the majority of deaths in hospital are classed as being predicted due to the condition of the patient on admission, reducing mortality is a key priority and we will continue to focus on improvements and prioritising the implementation of patient safety measures throughout our hospitals.”
The Advertiser revealed in August 2013 that health chiefs had ordered an investigation into mortality rates at two of NHS Lanarkshire’s hospitals.
Wishaw General Hospital and Monklands Hospital in Airdrie had “high standardised mortality ratios” for that latest quarter. A “rapid assessment” of the figures was ordered to see put in place.
The figures were for the first three months of 2013. At Wishaw General, 9250 patients were admitted between January and March 2013 and it was predicted 262 would die within 30 days of admission – the actual figure was 289.
Monklands had 6902 patients in the first quarter of 2013 and it was predicted that 210 would die with 30 days of admission – the figure was actually 290. Hairmyres had 6705 patients in the first quarter of 2013 and it was predicted 226 would die within 30 days of admission – the figure was 234.
Although Wishaw and Monklands had been identified as having an above average HSMR rate, the assessment looked at Monklands, Wishaw and Hairmyres hospitals.
A high or higher than expected HSMR is a trigger for further investigation, as in isolation it cannot be taken to imply a poorly performing hospital or poor quality of care.
In April 2014, NHS Lanarkshire were praised for “positive changes” in patient safety and care quality after the unusually high death rates emerged.
The health board were told to make 21 improvements at Wishaw, Monklands and Hairmyres Hospitals in the wake of the deaths, and those improvements came under investigation by a governmentappointed team. if any measures could be