Dr Foster Intelligence

The Hospital Guide 2009: patient safety and Dr Foster quality accounts online 29 November 2009

Dr Foster believes patient safety is the single most important element of hospital care. For the first time in the UK we have scored trusts on an overall patient safety measure and banded those with similar scores between 1 for the poorest performers and 5 for the best. The full Hospital Guide can be found at www.drfosterhealth.co.uk and the quality accounts at www.drfosterhealth.co.uk/quality-accounts/. The Dr Foster 'Trust of the year' for 2009 is University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

However less positively the Guide found that 12 trusts significantly underperformed across these safety measures, seven trusts are not compliant with National Patient Safety Agency alerts and that 5024 people admitted with low risk conditions died in hospital last year (848 under the age of 65). Although it is inevitable that some patients with these conditions will die during or after treatment, comparing rates between hospitals and investigating those deaths that do occur are useful ways of identifying failings in patient safety.

The Guide also reveals that last year at least 209 foreign objects were left behind in patients after operations, with 9 trusts recording six or more incidents and 82 incidents of 'wrong-site' surgery took place (operating on the wrong body part). Whilst these incidents should never occur, the figures are evidence that the NHS is developing a commendable culture of openness and reporting.

The Hospital Guide shows that overall, HSMRs decreased nationally by 7 per cent last year and 32 trusts has low HSMRs, however 27 trusts still have significantly high HSMRs. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation trust , which was criticised last year by the Healthcare Commission for failings in quality of care, has reduced its death rates by 34&37; compared to three years ago.

Roger Taylor, Director and co-founder of Dr Foster said: "Over the last nine years of the Hospital Guide we have seen a steady improvement in hospital performance but unacceptable variation between hospitals still exists. Dr Foster will continue to publish data in order to provide information to the public, drive improvement in patient care and save lives.

"Hospital trusts should use the Guide to carefully investigate where problems exist, even those who have performed well. Patients and the public should use the Hospital Guide to help make choices about where they want to be treated, to ask the right questions of their health professionals and to hold hospitals to account."

Through the website, www.drfosterhealth.co.uk, Dr Foster will also provide an example 'Quality Account' that we hope will stimulate discussion as to how quality accounts should be used across the NHS.

Every year Dr Foster celebrates the best of NHS hospitals by awarding the 'Trust of the Year' prize to the most outstanding foundation, large, medium and small trusts in England. This year, Dr Foster has awarded University College London Hospitals NHS foundation Trust with the overall 'Trust of the Year' award based on their performances across the 13 patient safety measures.

Overall hospital trust of the Year and Foundation trust of the year: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Large hospital trust of the Year: St George's Healthcare NHS Trust
Medium hospital trust of the Year: Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust
Small hospital trust of the Year: Airedale NHS Trust

To read the full report please visit www.drfosterhealth.co.uk

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