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Chelsea and Westminster named as 1 of best 5 hospitals for low mortality rates in Dr Foster Hospital Guide

03 December 2012

Chelsea and Westminster has been named as 1 of only 5 hospitals in England with lower than expected mortality rates for 3 of the 4 mortality indicators measured in the Dr Foster Hospital Guide, an annual independent healthcare survey published today (Monday 3 December).

Chelsea and Westminster has been named as 1 of only 5 hospitals in England with lower than expected mortality rates for 3 of the 4 mortality indicators measured in the Dr Foster Hospital Guide, an annual independent healthcare survey published today (Monday 3 December).

Chelsea and Westminster was lower than expected for the following 3 measures:

  • HSMR (Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio)—an indicator of healthcare quality that measures whether a hospital’s death rate is higher or lower than expected—HSMR is based on 56 conditions that account for 80% of deaths
  • SHMI (Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator)—based on all conditions, this measure of mortality includes deaths in hospital and deaths in the 30 days after discharge from hospital
  • Deaths after surgery—patients who die after developing complications following surgery

Tony Bell, Chief Executive of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, says: “I want to thank every member of staff at Chelsea and Westminster who has played their part in helping us to earn this independent recognition of our commitment to quality and safety.

“I welcome the publication of the Dr Foster Hospital Guide because we are not complacent and we know that there is always room for improvement. The Guide provides us with national benchmarks to measure our performance.

“Being more open and transparent is a priority for us at Chelsea and Westminster which is why the Transparency section of our website includes information about not only mortality rates but also infection rates, waiting times and financial information.”

Examples of recent initiatives to improve further the quality and safety of services at Chelsea and Westminster include:

  • The piloting of ‘comfort rounds’ for patients on a medical ward halved the number of pressure ulcers suffered by elderly patients and also reduced the number of falls—every 2 hours nurses go round and speak to every patient to ask them how they are and whether they need extra support, for example something to eat or drink, more pain relief or help going to the toilet. ‘Comfort rounds’ are now being rolled out to all adult inpatient wards in the hospital.
  • A focus has been put on reducing the unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics which can make patients more susceptible to some infections—there were only 2 MRSA cases at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in 2011/12 compared with 6 in 2010/11 and 10 in 2009/10.
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George Vasilopoulos