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Of the many risks to NHS trusts, flooding is not in the upper mind of chief executives.

That’s understandable given today’s intense pressures on the health service. But if the pandemic showed anything, it was that the NHS needs to expect the unexpected.

Therefore, it’s reassuring that the NHS appears to be aware of the risk of flooding across its thousands of sites.

Twenty-nine facilities are at “high risk” of flooding from both rivers and seas, and surface water – according to NHS England data seen by HSJ.

Thankfully, only two of these buildings are main acute buildings with lots of inpatients. The others are a mix of community hospitals and smaller units.

Being at high risk of flooding may also sound worrying, but this does only translate to a one in 30 chance per year.

That doesn’t mean trusts should take the issue lightly. Just two years ago there was a flood at one of the main acute sites in question (County Hospital in Hereford) and last year more than 170 floods were reported across the NHS.

Most of these are minor in scale, but with the growing threat of climate change – the risks must be taken seriously.

Braced for hard truths

The latest report from the MBRRACE project on national perinatal mortality surveillance data makes complicated reading.

At first blush, it has some good news. Neonatal mortality and stillbirth rates have been falling across the UK since 2013 and the latest data – covering 2020 – continues that trend.

However, there are still clear links between increased risk of neonatal death or stillbirths and both deprivation and ethnicity.

And, as ever, behind those headline figures there remains variation between NHS trusts.

The survey sorts trusts into five comparator groups based on the level of service they provide. It uses standardised and adjusted mortality rates to compare between trusts.

It then highlights those that are more than 5 percent above the mean for their comparator group. These “red band” providers are expected to carry out further investigations to find out why they are so different.

The data shows there are several trusts that are more than 5 per cent above their peer average in both neonatal and stillbirths. In years past there are none that were red rated for both.

Trusts pointed to the levels of deprivation in their areas. Others pointed to improvements they are making as a result of their investigations.

Also on hsj.co.uk today

In comment, Ellie Orton says that while the charity sector does not address day-to-day funding needs, the role it plays in supporting the NHS workforce is crucial. And in our weekly round-up of health coverage elsewhere, The Primer assesses how well Steve Barclay fared in his quizzing by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.