Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust has commenced publication of its mortality rates online. A 13-month chart, which will have rolling updates each month, has been posted on the Trust’s website so that members of the public can see for themselves how their local hospital is performing.
The routinely collected data is referred to as the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR), which is calculated by dividing the actual number of deaths by the expected number of deaths, and multiplying this by 100. The expected number of deaths is calculated by taking into account a range of factors beyond the control of the trust, such as age, sex, emergency admission or not, primary diagnosis and procedure, or whether there other medical complications.