The 2011 Dr Foster Hospital Guide [why not have a look at my earlier blog entry to find out why we think the Dr Foster hospital guide is so important ] rates hospitals according to how they perform on four important mortality indicators: the SHMI, HSMR, deaths in low-risk situations and deaths after surgery. Out of all of the hospitals and trusts included in the guide, only one managed to achieve lower than expected mortality rates for all of them.
That one was the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which is sure to be pleased that it came out top. It is also certain to be reassuring to the patients who use the trust to know that the mortality rates are all classed as lower than expected. Let’s take a look at the figures.
On the SHMI, which measures deaths following hospital treatment, the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had a score of 78. This is considerably lower than most of the other trusts measured. The HSMR is a measurement that accounts for 80% of hospital deaths; the trust in question had a rate of 85, which is again lower than the norm.
The measurement for deaths in low risk situations, which is measured per 1000 patients, saw the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Trust achieve a rate of 0.35. And finally, the deaths after surgery rate came out as 29.
Some other trusts managed to outperform the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on individual scores, but when it comes to the results across the board, this trust is clearly doing extremely well – it will be interesting to see if it keeps up its excellent results when the updated Hospital Guide for 2012 is released.
Whilst we don’t have figures for successful medical negligence claims made against the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, it’s interesting to note that the Internet reports a number of successful compensation claims made at the end of the last decade – including actress Lesley Ash’s high profile £5m settlement of her action against the Hospital -but none recently. Perhaps that confirms Dr Foster’s view that the Hospital has seriously improved their performance – and according to Dr Foster’s statistics, it’s currently perhaps one of the safest Hospital in England and Wales to receive medical treatment.
However if you’re the victim of a hospital or other medical error, and if you want to know how to claim compensation – email us, or contact our specialist medical negligence solicitors on 0800 1404544 today.
