National statistics show Trust mortality rate remains ‘as expected’

The NHS Information Centre has published the Summary Hospital-Level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) statistics for the period July 2013 to June 2014, showing that the mortality rate for Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust remains ‘as expected’.
New Year pharmacy times.New Year pharmacy times.
New Year pharmacy times.

The SHMI score for the Trust for this period stands at 109. The SHMI score relates to deaths in-hospital in Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Goole and out-of-hospital for 30 days after discharge from hospital.

The SHMI figures are published quarterly and always refer to a 12-month time period occurring 18 to six months before the publication date. Following the acquisition of the University of Birmingham Hospitals’ Healthcare Evaluation Data (HED) reporting product, the Trust is able report on more up to date SHMI data. The HED data shows that for the year to August 2014, the Trust has a SHMI score of 109.

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The HED information allows for a breakdown of the data to an in-hospital and out-of-hospital level. For the 12 months to August 2014, the in-hospital SHMI is 106 and the out-of-hospital SHMI is 117. This gap of 11 points is greater than the average difference nationally, which is usually less than five points. Although the in-hospital part of the SHMI has reduced over time, there remains a gap between this and the out-of-hospital mortality rate (ie deaths occurring under GP care, in care homes, or other non-hospital care providers).

Trust medical director Dr Mark Withers said: “We have made significant progress in strengthening clinical leadership across the organization, which has increased the focus on the quality of patient care. We will continue with this, as well as working closely with our colleagues in the community to examine the potential causes of the difference between the in-hospital mortality rates and the out-of-hospital figures.”

* What is the SHMI?

The Summary Hospital Level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) is the official Department of Health measure used to measure risk adjusted mortality. This compares the actual mortality position of the Trust, based on the number of deaths in hospital and in the 30 days following admission, with a calculated ‘expected deaths’ rate.

SHMI is usually based on a full year of data and is recalculated every six months. There are three bandings in the SHMI with mortality rates classed as lower than expected, as expected, and higher than expected.

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The difference between the actual number of deaths and the number predicted by the SHMI model is often called ‘excess deaths’. This figure does not represent deaths that were preventable and should not be interpreted as a measure of avoidable deaths.

For more information on the SHMI please see http://www.hscic.gov.uk/SHMI

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