Carer World - extracts & notes

NHS Trust welcomes latest guide report   Hereford Journal    11 Dec 2013, p 13

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WYE Valley NHS Trust has welcomed the latest publication of Dr Foster's 'Good Hospital Guide', which independently reports on the Trust's performance during 2012/13 based on a range of quality and safety indicators.

The Trust has performed well in a number of areas including lower than expected numbers of patients readmitted to hospital within 28 days of discharge.

In the majority of the published indicators the Trust has been scored as expected or better, which means it is providing good quality and safe care for its patients.

The Trust also continues to meet acute hospital performance indicator HSMR (Hospitalised Standardised Mortality Rate) expectations.

Peter Wilson, Medical Director at Wye Valley NHS Trust, said: "We welcome the publication of this report which demonstrates that our patients are getting the right care and at the right time during then-stay.

"Wye Valley's SHMI (Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator) figures, which are published quarterly, but nine months retrospectively, remain higher than expected (the latest figure for April 2012 to March 2013 is 112.57). However, this measure should not be seen in isolation but as part of a set of indicators of quality of care.

"SHMI includes deaths which occur outside of hospital but within 30 days of discharge, in our case approximately 25 per cent of these recorded deaths occur outside of the hospital, and therefore any strategy to reduce avoidable deaths has to involve the whole health community of Herefordshire, not just secondary care".

"SHMI also does not make any adjustment for deaths occurring in palliative care patients ". The picture is further complicated in Herefordshire by the fact that Wye Vafley NHS Trust is an Integrated Care Organisation which provides both Acute Hospital and Community Health services for the county - many trusts solely provide Acute Hospital services.

"The Trust Board and senior medical staff have spent considerable time understanding what lies beneath these indicator figures and have worked closely with Dr Foster (an organisation which provides healthcare information and monitors performance of the NHS).


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