The Health and Social Care Information Center (HSCIC) released an experimental report on hospital mortality rates in the U.K; Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) – Deaths associated with hospitalisation, England, Experimental Statistics Supplementary Report, July 2010 – June 2012; which is supplementary to the standard quarterly publication of mortality ratios – or SHMI values – for all 142 non-specialist acute trusts in England. During the same period – between July 2010 to June 2012 – 11 trusts were categorised as having a ‘lower than expected’ ratio, based on Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) data.
The SHMI compares the actual number of patients who die following hospitalisation at a trust with the number who would be expected to die, given the characteristics of the patients treated there. It categorises them as; ‘as expected’, ‘higher than expected’ or ‘lower than expected’. It differs from other mortality indicators because it considers all deaths that take place in a trust as well as those taking place within 30 days of discharge. As a result, it offers a more comprehensive picture of deaths following hospital care.
View full report at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/shmijul11jun12