The report today on the National news that people who are admitted to UK hospitals at the weekend have a higher chance of not surviving led us to look into the numbers around this.
A research company called Dr Foster have compiled information about the performance of hospitals across the UK, including St Mary’s on the Isle of Wight.
Looking down the list of mortality statistics for St Mary’s appears worrying. All of the mortality figures published in the Dr Foster research place the Isle of Wight NHS Trust – St Mary’s hospital – above the National average. Some of them are near to a quarter above.
Worst in South East say Telegraph
The Telegraph table shows the Island NHS PCT figures as the highest in the whole of the South East. The next worst is the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, with the Isle Of Wight NHS PCT is at least 5% worse than those.
The National average is set at 100, so anything under 100 is below average, or better than the national average. Conversely, all of those above are worse. All of the figures that have a comparison are above.
St Mary’s Mortality performance
Below is a summary of the Dr Foster performance figures. An explanation of the headings are at the bottom of this article.
| Area | National Avg | IW NHS Trust | %age over |
| Overall mortality ratio – 1 year | 100 | 123.45 | 23% |
| Overall mortality ratio – 3 year | 100 | 113.76 | 14% |
| Overall mortality ratio for patients admitted as an emergency | 100 | 124.65 | 25% |
| Deaths after surgery | 100 | 119.27 | 19% |
| Deaths in high-risk conditions | 100 | 114.9 | 15% |
Why are the numbers so bad?
Seeing those numbers, and the apparent increased chance of mortality at St Mary’s when compared with the National average, it’s hard not to be concerned.
As the Island has a large number of older people, we wondered if that had skewed the results to be higher. That doesn’t appear to be the case, as looking at the statistical methods behind this data reveals that the age of the patient is one of the twelve areas that they make adjustments for.
We contacted St Mary’s to get their side of it, but at the time of publishing, they have yet to respond. We’ll update you when we hear back.
Table of terms
Description of the terms used in the table above, taken from the Dr Foster Health site
| Title | Explanation |
| Overall mortality ratio – 1 year | This compares the actual number of deaths in a trust against the expected number |
| Overall mortality ratio – 3 year | This compares the actual number of deaths in a trust against the expected number over the last three years |
| Overall mortality ratio for patients admitted as an emergency | This compares the actual number of deaths in a trust against the expected number over the last three years for patients admitted for reasons other than an elective procedure, for example as an emergency |
| Deaths after surgery | This identifies surgical patients who had a secondary diagnosis such as internal bleeding, pneumonia or a blood clot and subsequently died |
| Deaths in high-risk conditions | This compares the actual number of deaths in a trust against the expected number for a basket of five specific diagnosis groups |
This time last year, Dr Foster reported bad news for St Mary’s when their Hospital Guide revealed one of the high mortality rates in the UK, as well as bad performance of urgent treatment for strokes.
Image: markhillary under a CC BY 2.0 license
