Mortality Rates
No accord on mortality measures
A nationally agreed hospital-wide mortality indicator will not to be in place before the publication of this year’s Dr Foster Hospital Guide, it has been confirmed.
PCTs make a good shot at prioritisation
With GP consortia on course to take over commissioning, a report seen by HSJ shows PCTs have been preparing the ground well by getting to grips with the fundamentals of local priority setting. Dave West explains
Budget risk to future MRSA success
The downward trend in the number of deaths involving MRSA and C difficile revealed by official figures could be reversed as a result of budget cuts, an infection control specialist warned last week.
Clinical coding improving, says Audit Commission
The accuracy of hospital trusts’ clinical coding has improved significantly in the past three years, but remains very poor at some organisations, according to the Audit Commission.
UK leading in fight against breast cancer
Death rates from breast cancer fell faster in the UK than any other major European country, experts have claimed.
SHA report calls for unit to remain closed after paediatric deaths
A report has called for the smallest paediatric cardiac surgery unit in the country to remain closed.
Breast cancer screening inequality
Official statistics have revealed that fewer women in deprived areas of Scotland are being screened for breast cancer compared to those in better off communities.
CQC lifts restrictions on Mid Staffs
Five of the six licence restrictions placed on Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust have been lifted by the Care Quality Commission, following an interim report on the trust’s progress against recommendations made in a 2009 report by the Healthcare Commission.
NHS mini-stroke performance 'costs 500 lives a year'
The NHS is failing to act quickly enough when people suffer symptoms of a transient ischemic attack, also known as a mini stroke, costing an estimated 500 lives a year, according to a report.
Staffing problems may increase infant death rate
Around 100 babies a year are dying unnecessarily because they are born outside working hours, experts have claimed.
Departing NHS London chair hits out at Lansley
The NHS London chair who resigned in protest at the government’s reconfiguration policy has formally stepped down, leaving the strategic health authority struggling to maintain a functioning board.
Cancer survival rates improve
People suffering from some cancers are twice as likely to survive as patients diagnosed in the early 1970s, new analysis shows.
Lansley outlines plans for ‘health outcome’ measures
The government will identify a small number of quality measures that will be used to judge a wide range of NHS activities, from commissioning to hospital care.
DH to consult on cutting its supplied staff
A consultation on job cuts at the Department of Health will be announced on Thursday, HSJ has been told.
Patient safety programme hailed
A patient safety programme has played a major role in helping reduce the number of unexpected hospital deaths, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has said.
NICE calls to slash transfat levels
Small changes to people’s diets that make them more healthy could prevent tens of thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke, experts have claimed.
Early breast cancer diagnosis could save 1,000 lives
A total of 957 deaths from advanced breast cancer could be avoided each year in England if its early diagnosis rates matched those in Norway and Sweden, research has shown.
Clinical audits ordered to reveal provider level data
National clinical audits will be stripped of their funding if they refuse to publish information on organisation performance, including mortality rates, HSJ has learned.
Risk linked to surgery volume
Mortality rates can be up to three times higher for a common operations at smaller, low volume acute trusts than at their larger neighbours in the same region, research published by NHS London suggests.
Spearhead PCTs achieve limited success on cancer survival
GPs should receive incentive payments to help improve cancer survival rates in deprived areas, according to a think tank close to the Conservatives.
More on Mortality Rates
Stop lethal blood clots: get good ideas into circulation
In Salisbury work on upgrading risk assessment for lethal blood clots halved secondary venous thromboembolism rates in two years, reports Jennifer Taylor
Publishing mortality rates - the HR challenge
The NHS Choices website has published death rates for four types of surgery at NHS hospitals in England. Claire Reynolds explains how this could affect performance management
Making progress on infant mortality
High infant mortality rates in disadvantaged groups make the latest inequalities targets tough to hit. But there has been some progress in this area, as Andy Cowper found out.
Born in Bradford project takes on infant mortality
Bradford's infant mortality rate is twice the British average. An ambitious project is tracking the lives of 10,000 babies in the archetypal deprived, multi-ethnic city in the hope of understanding why. Emma Dent reports. Pictures by Rii Schroer
A matter of life and death: reducing avoidable mortality
Senior staff from 16 hospitals got together to brainstorm on reducing avoidable deaths. Hugh Rogers and Kate Jones report
