Trust welcomes probe into 'high death rate' at Boston's Pilgrim Hospital

THE body that runs Boston's Pilgrim Hospital is being investigated for high death rates.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) is one of 14 organisations under the spotlight.

The Trust is included in an investigation into high mortality rates in the wake of the Stafford Hospital scandal and in which Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is also included.

The five trusts announced on February 6 have been "outliers" for two years on the Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI).

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And the nine organisations announced on Monday have been "outliers" for two years on the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR).

A spokesman for ULHT said: "We welcome the investigation into mortality indicators within our Trust and hope that it will provide an opportunity to demonstrate the progress that we have made on mortality thanks to the hard work of our staff.

"Our mortality figures have improved in the last year. Our SHMI continues to fall from a peak of 133 in quarter 3 2009/10. In the last available quarter – to June 2012, the Trust was no longer an outlier, with a quarterly SHMI of 106.28. Our HSMR figure has also shown recent improvement.

"Additionally, we have made significant improvements in all areas of patient safety, demonstrated by recent inspections carried out by the Care Quality Commission that have shown two minor concerns, compared to 14 major, moderate and minor concerns raised in 2011.

"There is still more work to do, and we are focussing on key improvements to bring our mortality ratios down even further, including the introduction of "a plan for every patient", daily ward rounds by senior doctors and implementing care bundles."

Announcing the nine additional trusts, Sir Bruce Keogh, said: "These hospitals are already working closely with a range of regulators.

"If there were concerns that services were unsafe the regulators should have intervened.

"The purpose of my investigation is to assure patients, public and Parliament that these hospitals understand why they have a high mortality and have all the support they need to improve.

"This will be a thorough and rigorous process, involving patients, clinicians, regulators and local organisations."