It figures

C CITY DESK

 

When you’re a bit under the weather, there’s nothing like a few real live figures to get your teeth into. Those are the figures governments don’t want you to see.

The next couple of articles are based on a Health Service Journal survey and analysis. I won’t put a link in, it’s subscription only. If you google for it, you can sometimes jiggle it to get access for free (TEE HEE).

Now when they tell you it’s not about money, you can show that it is.

This looks at the 14 Trusts that are being investigated for having higher death rates than they should have.

The HSJ has found that they also had fewer Doctors, Consultants and Cleaners than hospitals that didn’t make the relegation zone.

 

Health Service Journal

Exclusive: Fewer doctors per bed at death-rate investigation trusts

4 March, 2013 | By Ben Clover

An analysis of the 14 hospital trusts being investigated by the Department of Health over higher than expected death rates has highlighted medical staffing as a possible cause.

The 14 trusts were identified because they had higher than expected death rates

- based either on the hospital standardised mortality rate or the summary hospital-level mortality indicator - for two successive years. They are currently subject to a review led by NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh.

Analysis for HSJ of those in the group showed they had an average of 56.1 doctors and 19.7 consultant doctors per hundred beds, compared with 67.5 doctors and 24 consultants per hundred beds at trusts which are not being investigated.

Trusts being investigated had 18 cleaning staff per 100 beds, while trusts not being investigated had 23, researchers from the University of Plymouth found.

But the academics found little difference in the number of nurses between the trusts being investigated and those that are not. The rates were 136.8 and 143.3 per 100 beds respectively.

HSJ asked the researchers to make the comparisons. It was carried out by Sheena Asthana, professor of health policy and the University of Plymouth, and Alex Gibson, who is also based at that university.

Now that wouldn’t surprise any of us, would it?

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home:   helpmesortoutthenhs,blogspot.com