Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie are region’s safest hospitals

Cambridge University Hospitals – the NHS Foundation Trust which runs Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie Hospitals – has been awarded a ‘best performing’ rating for patient safety. It is the only hospital trust in the East of England to score so highly. Meanwhile, a surprise infection control inspection from the Care Quality Commission has found no areas of concern.

Dr Foster – an independent organisation which carries out health and social care research – has published the latest edition of its online Hospital Guide, which lets patients compare information about NHS services to make an informed choice about where they are treated.

The research uses the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR) as a statistical way of measuring how likely patients are to die in a particular hospital. Developed by Professor Sir Brian Jarman of Imperial College, it measures the likelihood of individual patients dying – given their underlying condition, age and deprivation group – and then compares it to the actual number of deaths that occurred in other hospitals. That means that hospitals can be fairly compared with each another even if they treat very different patients. The HSMR is calculated by dividing the actual number of deaths by the expected number of deaths, then multiplying by 100 – so results below 100 mean there were fewer deaths than expected.

At Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie – which, as specialist centres, see the sickest patients – the HSMR was just 80. That makes these the safest hospitals in the region. Overall, the Trust scored an almost-perfect 99.32 out of 100 for safety, putting it in the ‘best performing’ band. Just 13 other English hospitals were awarded this top rating.

Dr Gareth Goodier, the Trust’s Chief Executive, said: “We are committed to putting patients first – and that means that their safety is paramount. Our strategy is to minimise all avoidable risks, but if something goes wrong then we analyse events and work out what needs to change. We’ve slashed our infection rates for MRSA and C. difficile further than anyone thought possible a few years ago, we’ve set out our aim to be kind, safe and excellent in everything we do – and today’s figures demonstrate that we’ve come a very long way. Having the right people makes a huge difference, and I am proud that the great team of professionals at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie has achieved this result.”

Last month, the Care Quality Commission, which regulates hospitals in the NHS, carried out an unannounced inspection of infection control measures at Cambridge University Hospitals. Their report, which has just been published online, found no areas of concern and recognised that the Trust was protecting patients, workers and others from healthcare-related infections.

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