STAFFORD

High death rates at a Staffordshire hospital trust are to be investigated by the Healthcare Commission.

The watchdog said that data showed the death rates at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust were “out of normal range”. The inquiry will focus on what appear to be higher than normal death rates for emergency admissions. The commission will also investigate the quality of care provided across the trust, in particular to older people.

The trust, which serves 300,000 people, said yesterday that it believed its death rates were normal for a trust of its size. Martin Yeates, the chief executive, said that the trust and the Strategic Health Authority had investigated the trust’s higher than average standardised mortality rate and concluded that it was due to “problems in recording and coding information about patients”. He said this had improved in the past year.

Nigel Ellis, of the Healthcare Commission, said that it was important to “bring clarity” to the situation. “If we thought the trust was unsafe we would have already taken action,” he said.

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