Home > News > St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust named in elite group for mortality rates in Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2012

Published: 3 Dec 2012

Date of issue: Monday, 3rd December 2012

The Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2012 has named St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as one of an elite group of only 16 trusts in the country to have ‘lower than expected’ mortality rates for the Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI), which measures the ratio of observed deaths to expected deaths. St George’s was also named as one of the leading trusts in the country for SHMI in 2011, the first time Dr Foster reported on these mortality rates.

The Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2012 further cements St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s position as one of the country’s leading healthcare institutions. As well has also being named amongst the leading performers for SHMI, the trust has also been named among trusts with a ‘better than expected’ outcome for Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR) and emergency HSMR.

This news follows St George’s Hospital’s heart attack centre being heralded as having the capital’s best survival rates by the London Ambulance Service Cardiac Arrest Annual Report 2011/12.

Other areas in which St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is named amongst the leading performers in the country include:

  • Having lower than expected 28 day emergency readmission rates;
  • Having a higher than expected ratio of MRI scans carried out on the day of admission, demonstrating that we are providing timely diagnostics throughout the night and at weekends to some of south west London’s most seriously ill patients;
  • Elderly inpatients having a shorter length of stay than most other hospitals, showing that we are effectively treating patients and getting them home quicker where they can be treated in the comfort of their own homes by our community nursing and therapy teams;
  • Having one of the quickest ‘first to follow up’ ratios in the country, which shows that we see, treat and discharge our outpatients using fewer appointments and return trips than other hospitals. This is good for patients and demonstrates effective use of our resources;
  • Carrying out more procedures at the weekend than most other hospitals, showing that we are offering our patients more procedures at times that suit them.

Nigel Kennea, associate medical director, said:

“As St George’s Hospital is a major trauma centre, hyper acute stroke unit and heart attack centre, and a centre of excellence for cancer, maternity, cardiothoracic, neurosciences and renal services, our staff are used to treating the most seriously ill and vulnerable people from across south west London and Surrey every day.

“The fact that even for the most complex emergency services our mortality rates are significantly lower than expected is a testament to both the professionalism and dedication of our skilled clinical teams.”

Miles Scott, trust chief executive, said:

“People in south west London can take a huge amount of confidence and pride in the fact that mortality rates at St George’s are significantly lower than the national average and that the Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2012 further cements our status as one of the country’s leading healthcare institutions.

“Our performance in the Hospital Guide is testament to the attitude and hard work of our staff, and to trust’s commitment to research and innovation to improve quality and safety.

“We were one of the first healthcare organisations anywhere to monitor mortality to ensure that we could understand the death rate for every individual area of practice. Our rates are published on our website and this approach ensures that we have the clearest possible picture to help us maintain low mortality rates.”

 

Notes to editors

  • Dr Foster is a joint venture between The Department of Health and Dr Foster Holdings LLP. It aims to help bridge the gap between data and knowledge. Their stated objective is to promote the development of an information culture in the NHS by providing appropriate information and analysis to clinicians and managers in order to help them deliver the best quality healthcare
  • Dr Foster also promotes greater access to data across all public services and more intelligent use of data to understand variations in outcomes and availability of services.
  • The Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2012 is published in printed form and online at www.drfosterhealth.co.uk

For more information, please contact the Communications Unit on 020 8725 5151 or email communications@stgeorges.nhs.uk. Outside working hours, please page us by calling 0844 822 2888, leaving a short message and contact details for pager SG548. High res photos available on request.