50000 Excess Deaths NHS 2001 - 2010

[Dedworth]

Decade of Labour 'saw 50,000 too many die in hospital': Figures show 'abnormally high' number of people died at 15 health trusts during time party was in power


Up to 50,000 ‘excess’ deaths were recorded at hospitals during the last Labour government.

As ministers prepare to respond today to the report into the Mid Staffordshire scandal, figures suggest the number of fatalities was ‘abnormally high’ at 15 further health trusts.

The research – by Sir Brian Jarman of Imperial College, London – covers 2001 to 2010.

Half of the hospital trusts he identifies were finally put into special measures this year – prompting accusations that neglect was not tackled despite a series of investigations.

Professor Jarman said: ‘I warned the Department of Health on multiple occasions about high hospital adjusted death rates; and witnesses have testified under oath there was huge government pressure, because the government hated the idea that a regulator would criticise it.

‘In fact, I was so concerned that I wrote to [Labour health secretary] Andy Burnham personally in March 2010 warning him about high death rates at five of the 11 hospitals now in special measures.

‘The Department of Health seems to have been, until recently, a denial machine regarding our death rate data.

‘It seemed to me as if there was a constant battle with the department producing documents that purported to wish to listen to patients and clinicians but were more spin than reality.

‘I felt that there was a culture within the Department of Health which did not want bad news.’

Between all hospital trusts, the professor’s figures show there were 49,500 ‘excess deaths’ – above what could be expected on national survival rates.

This does not mean all these deaths were avoidable but the research illustrates major variations between trusts.

The Francis Inquiry into the scandal at Mid Staffordshire heard hundreds of patients died there from 2005 to 2009 as a culture of neglect, poor management and cost-cutting took hold.

The latest data suggests 16 trusts, including Mid Staffordshire, had ‘higher than expected’ death rates in six or more of the past ten years.

They include Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals, Burton Hospitals, Medway NHS Trust, George Eliot Hospitals, Tameside Hospitals, North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals, East Lancashire Hospital and Colchester – which were all put into special measures this year.

Blackpool and Dudley hospitals, which are on the list, were reviewed but not put into special measures.

Labour officials insist the deaths were not all unnecessary, or contributed to by inadequate care.



A party spokesman said Mr Burnham passed Sir Brian’s letter in March 2010 to the regulator, the Care Quality Commission immediately.

He added: ‘As the expert reports clearly state, these claims are misleading – hospital mortality fell in the last decade. It is regrettable that Brian Jarman is repeating them.’

But Tory MP Steve Barclay said: ‘It is deeply concerning that Labour ministers gave clearly false reassurance to patients and families that Mid Staffs was an isolated case.

‘They now need to come clean and explain whether this was simply for political reasons – to present the NHS in a positive light – or because they had failed to check the clinical evidence available to them.

‘The consequence of this failure to intervene is that a further 16 hospitals had abnormally high death rates for the ten years between 2000 and 2010, during which time many patients received poor care which could have been prevented.’

Sarah Wollaston, a Tory MP and practising GP, said: ‘One of the best ways of moving forward is to make sure the worst performing hospitals are behaving in the same way as the best hospitals, not just in terms of clinicians but also systems such as measures to prevent higher weekend deaths. It’s also about patients’ experience.

‘The NHS has to look seriously at variation because otherwise people do die unnecessarily.’

Sir Brian said it was not clear whether or not hospital deaths rates had fallen under the Coalition because some hospitals had changed their coding system to record fatalities.

The Francis inquiry was told many Mid Staffs patients were left lying in their own urine and excrement for days, forced to drink water from vases or given the wrong medication.

It made a total of 290 sweeping recommendations for healthcare regulators, providers and the Government.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz2lBJWkLa4

[KeithD]

....and if we didn't have any NHS that number would be 500,000

[andy222]

Thats the point Keith we wont have a NHS if the tories get in again.

[KeithD]

Labour put money into the NHS we never had, and yet moral got to an all time low. Moral is still low, and we have a lot of 'can't be d' nurses. It seems like Filipino's are now part of the backbone of the NHS keeping it afloat. The Tories have made cuts to the NHS that needed doing, at one point it was about 2 admin to 1 nurse . It should be the other way around at the very least.

Nurses wages need to have incentives. If their hospital stats come within 5% of the national average, they get a bonus, that forces those who fail to make the bonus to improve things. However, that is never going to happen due to government who have no clue of common sense, and the unions.

[andy222]

You know more than the government Keith. But that dont take a lot..

[andy222]

There is more to a hospital than just nurses Keith. In my experience and I work in them most weeks. In hospitals the nurses give the drugs out and do a bit of paper work. The graft is done by the HCA,s. In all the shifts I have done at hospitals there is only one nurse to a ward. A lot of HCA,s are filipinos and are good workers.

[KeithD]

I was being generic, nurses = shop floor, which includes HCA, and admin, which is mostly managers sitting around trying to figure out what the other managers are doing

[gWaPito]

Thats the point Keith we wont have a NHS if the tories get in again.

Would you mind posting the link

[gWaPito]

....and if we didn't have any NHS that number would be 500,000

That's no consolation to the family who lost their 20yo son at that dreadful hospital in Staffordshire through incompetence / negligence. ..I was watching this on the box last night. ..A number of us as had a 20yo son at one or another. ..It was heartbreaking.

[gWaPito]

I was being generic, nurses = shop floor, which includes HCA, and admin, which is mostly managers sitting around trying to figure out what the other managers are doing

It's the same where I work. ..there's no trust. Unfortunately, in this day and age, it's justifiable.

[KeithD]

Humans will always make mistakes regardless of how many laws and rules we have. While Labour were in power around 18,000 people died due to vehicles, 99.9% due to human error, so maybe Labour should have banned them. Hang on, more than twice that died during the Tory years previously. Their are more ill people than drivers, so the figures for the NHS and road accidents about the same. However, the 50,000 is extrapolated from a number of reports, and this has a very high error rate. If it was a true, then it only works out at 10 per day, bad for relatives and friends, but out of the millions of sick people, a very small error rate.

[Dedworth]

Humans will always make mistakes regardless of how many laws and rules we have. While Labour were in power around 18,000 people died due to vehicles, 99.9% due to human error, so maybe Labour should have banned them. Hang on, more than twice that died during the Tory years previously. Their are more ill people than drivers, so the figures for the NHS and road accidents about the same. However, the 50,000 is extrapolated from a number of reports, and this has a very high error rate. If it was a true, then it only works out at 10 per day, bad for relatives and friends, but out of the millions of sick people, a very small error rate.

Jarman is highly qualified and a former Chairman of the BMA - his figures and reasoning are sound

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/AP/faces/p...02137231959000

[joebloggs]

dedworth how many died under thatcher and are dying under Cameron ?????

I've already made a post today about how Tories want to cut £7bn from education and the NHS to give to the rich

A&E are at breaking point because of the Tory cuts

i made a post on sunday about a private clinic that the local NHS had to take over because their standards were so

[Dedworth]

dedworth how many died under thatcher and are dying under Cameron ?????

I've already made a post today about how Tories want to cut £7bn from education and the NHS to give to the rich

A&E are at breaking point because of the Tory cuts

i made a post on sunday about a private clinic that the local NHS had to take over because their standards were so

Joe how can you maintain that all in the garden was rosy 2001 - 2010 the death figures are there. The only legitimate criticism is that it has taken the tories too long to put these rogue trusts into special measures and start chopping the inept management.

My Dad suffered 8 weeks appalling treatment and died in 2005 in a $hithole that the CQC grade as posing a high risk http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/nh...high-risk.html

[joebloggs]

dedworth tell me how many hospitals or departments have shut down under the Tory cutbacks ?

sick people will have to travel further in ambulances, don't tell me this will not lead to more people dying.

privatising the NHS so companies cut corners to make profits

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...y-8742745.html

http://www.shrewsburychronicle.com/2...esponse-times/

oh this must be true, its in the news paper of the year
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-revealed.html

[KeithD]

How many financial EXPERTS get figures and forecasts right? Very few.

The error rate in the US is about 3 times higher than the UK.

You are never going to get rid of errors or high levels of quality of care when humans are evolved. It is down to the behaviour of individuals on the shop floor.

[SimonH]

How many financial EXPERTS get figures and forecasts right? Very few.

No point in asking who's going to win the 3.00 at Wincanton then

[KeithD]

No point in asking who's going to win the 3.00 at Wincanton then

0.23% Of people who gamble on Betfair are classed as professional

[Doc Alan]

I responded sympathetically to Ded’s thread about “ Losing your father “ three years ago. Losing our loved ones is something which of course happens to all of us. All most of us would wish is that our parents live to a good age and don't suffer ...if only that was always the case ... . A supportive family and friends certainly help.


I'm sure it's good whenever possible to remember the good things about our loved ones, yes ,with "rose-tinted spectacles", because they weren't perfect and neither are we !


Of the 580,000 or so people who die each year in the UK, 3/5 die in hospital, the remainder at home, in care homes or elsewhere. An " excess " of 50,000 would be under 1.5% of all hospital deaths over 10 years. Most would prefer to die at home, surrounded by family and friends.



The average life expectancy at birth keeps rising ( 79 years for men ; 83 for women ), but there are differences between areas, depending on social class, income, health and economic deprivation. Glasgow men lag behind their counterparts in Kensington and Chelsea by over 13 years, and women by about 12 years.


Professor Jarman has looked at data from England, the USA, and other countries, applying an index called “ Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio “ ( HSMR ). This compares the expected rate of death in hospitals with actual rate. Death rate is only ONE indicator of healthcare quality. Other factors – which he and “ Dr Foster Good Hospital Guides “ try to adjust for – include age, sex, diagnosis, and emergency admissions.


HSMR, like other statistics, need care in interpretation ( “ lies, damned lies and statistics “ ). Jarman and Dr Foster therefore focus on “ outliers “ – where results are beyond the “ normal range “. A very high HMSR – such as at Mid Staffs – should be a trigger for concern and action. However, doctors and the general public need a basic understanding of statistics, including “ confounding variables “ ( false relationships between factors ).



For sure, in the past decade, quality of care and patient safety in hospitals has been the focus of increasing public, professional, political and regulatory concern. Recently we’ve had the Francis Inquiry, Berwick Report, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Report - and, since 2001, Dr Foster Good Hospital Guides, and Bristol Royal Infirmary paediatric surgery inquiry.



No wonder there are strong public opinions ( influenced by personal experiences of healthcare ) and confusion ! Jeremy Hunt mostly speaks for England, even if what he says applies also to other parts of the UK.


People ARE living longer in the UK ( 10 years longer on average than in the Philippines ), but the quality of their health in their last years of life is often not good.


Of course we should have a “ 24/7 “ NHS ; hospital standards should be the same wherever you live ; fewer people would require hospital treatment if they looked after their own health better and were supported more by their loved ones.


A “ duty of candour “ – openness – is good ; starting with every patient having the name of a nurse and doctor above their bed so they know “ where the buck stops “ … or at least starts. Some hospital wards have had this for many years.

I will stay clear of blaming Labour or Con-Dem, save to say that the only time any politicians see the light is when they are forced to respond to a public enquiry. No one at the top of the NHS is ever accountable for anything, and the number of “ regulators “ serves only to confuse the public.


ALL this has resource implications – not just more money but also more healthcare workers. It EITHER means more taxation if the service is to remain free at the point of need ; OR pay to visit a GP, hospital outpatient clinic, get a prescription, and as a hospital inpatient ( means tested and with insurance ).


Personal responsibility for health is vital in my opinion, but it’s not for me to judge lifestyle choices. Good health to all members !



http://filipinaroses.com/showthread....osing+a+father

[joebloggs]

I will stay clear of blaming Labour or Con-Dem, save to say that the only time any politicians see the light is when they are forced to respond to a public enquiry. No one at the top of the NHS is ever accountable for anything, and the number of “ regulators “ serves only to confuse the public.

blame the nurse and doctors for the mistakes they make for whatever reason but those in charge are never held accountable

[Dedworth]

I will stay clear of blaming Labour or Con-Dem, save to say that the only time any politicians see the light is when they are forced to respond to a public enquiry. No one at the top of the NHS is ever accountable for anything, and the number of “ regulators “ serves only to confuse the public.

Thanks Doc for your very comprehensive response

I think you've hit the nail fully on the head with the above two sentences. I see the inquiry concerning Colchester Hospital is widening - if some of the guilty ones were jailed it might act as a deterrent across the NHS

[mikewashtm]

I think there's a medicine already for this but they won't open this to the public. At the end of the day, it's just business, forcing people to shell out cash.