Deaths in hospital "as expected"
26 January 2012
The latest national data on deaths in hospital, published this week by the NHS Information Centre, has found that mortality in Shropshire's main hospitals is "as expected".
The Summary Hospital Mortality Indicator (SHMI) is a national measure to compare the observed number of deaths in hospital or within 30 days of discharge with the "expected" number of deaths (e.g. based on the range of complexity of the patients seen in hospital).
The SHMI is a helpful indicator for hospitals across the country. It provdies an assessment of whether the number of deaths is:
- "higher than expected"
- "as expected" (this is the assessment for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust), or
- "lower than expected".
Measures such as this are not necessarily an indication that there are problems or issues, but provide a valuable "smoke signal" to help hospitals measure and review the quality and outcomes of the care that they provide.
The latest data is available from the NHS Information Centre website (external link).