Written Question · S6W-30223 · Session 6
What its response is to NHS Lothian’s account of the reasons that the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh had a hospital standardised mortality ra…
The question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to NHS Lothian’s account of the reasons that the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh had a hospital standardised mortality ratio (HSMR) more than two standard deviations above the Scotland-wide average, in light of NHS Lothian not attributing excess mortality to any deficiencies in care provision and reports that multiple randomly selected mortality cases for the review had experienced problems in the provision of their care, which, if fixed, could have resulted in a different outcome.
The answer
The latest release by Public Health Scotland (PHS), providing information on Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMRs), for the period April 2019 to March 2024 is available via the PHS website. (Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios
- April 2023 to March 2024
- Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios
- Publications
- Public Health Scotland).These statistics are updated on a quarterly basis and reflect the HSMR for the latest 12-month reporting period, whilst crude mortality data is presented by quarter and month to show trends. For the period April 2023 to March 2024, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) is within two standard deviations of the Scotland-wide average for their HSMR, and no hospital in Scotland had a significantly higher standardised mortality ratio than the national average.NHS Lothian’s January 2024 HSMR report explored the reasons behind the higher ratio of the standardised mortality measure at RIE and specifically to understand if there is any evidence of avoidable mortality.The report identified 4 cases where a different plan and/or delivery of care may have resulted in a different outcome for patients, but the use of ‘may’ identifies this classification as hypothetical in nature, it is impossible to know if a different care plan would have resulted in a different outcome. Furthermore, the report specifically advised the Healthcare Governance Committee that there is no clear current evidence of avoidable mortality in any of the cases considered.
- April 2023 to March 2024
- Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios
- Publications
- Public Health Scotland).These statistics are updated on a quarterly basis and reflect the HSMR for the latest 12-month reporting period, whilst crude mortality data is presented by quarter and month to show trends. For the period April 2023 to March 2024, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) is within two standard deviations of the Scotland-wide average for their HSMR, and no hospital in Scotland had a significantly higher standardised mortality ratio than the national average.NHS Lothian’s January 2024 HSMR report explored the reasons behind the higher ratio of the standardised mortality measure at RIE and specifically to understand if there is any evidence of avoidable mortality.The report identified 4 cases where a different plan and/or delivery of care may have resulted in a different outcome for patients, but the use of ‘may’ identifies this classification as hypothetical in nature, it is impossible to know if a different care plan would have resulted in a different outcome. Furthermore, the report specifically advised the Healthcare Governance Committee that there is no clear current evidence of avoidable mortality in any of the cases considered.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S6W-30223 by reference.