THE number of patients dying in the region's main hospitals has come under the spotlight in a national report.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, is one of more than 170 trusts in England included in mortality figures published by healthcare information provider Dr Foster.
The data in the Dr Foster Hospital Guide looks at two measures of mortality for 2011-12, with varying outcomes in each.
The Dr Foster Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR), which compares the expected rate of death in a hospital with the actual rate of death, reveals 499 fewer patients died during the period compared with the previous 12 months.
But Summary-Level Hospital Mortality Index (SHMI) data, which compares the number of expected deaths with the actual number recorded within 30 days of the patients' discharge, shows 292 more deaths than expected for the year.
Yvette Oade, the trust's chief medical officer, said patient safety remains the top priority and death rates are taken "very seriously".
She said: "We know mortality statistics don't tell the full story.
"But we know they mean an awful lot to the public.
"We want the public to have confidence, when they come into the hospital, that they are coming somewhere that is safe."
According to the HSMR data, there were 2,599 deaths in the hospitals from April 2010 to March 2011, compared to 2,100 from April 2011 to March 2012 – a difference of 499.
Of the five patient groups included, four were "within the expected range" for mortality figures.
However, deaths after surgery, which was expected to see 84 deaths but actually saw 130, remains "higher than expected".
The SHMI figures show the number of expected deaths was 2,975 but the actual number recorded was 3,267.
Dr Oade said the trust was in the bottom 20 trusts for this data, as the figures were "higher than expected" for the year. But she said the number continues to fall.
The trust said the HSMR figure reflects major changes undertaken after it was named the second-worst trust in England for mortality rates two years ago.
Dr Oade said patient safety continues to be improved, including increasing the number of hours consultants spend in the acute assessment unit and accident and emergency department.
She said a respiratory ward has also been moved from Castle Hill Hospital to Hull Royal Infirmary to prevent seriously ill patients having to be transferred.
A director of patient safety has been appointed and any patients with the potentially fatal superbug Clostridium difficile (C difficile) are treated on one ward.
Dr Oade said end of life care has played a part in the HSMR reduction, with more palliative care consultants appointed and more patients choosing to spend their final days in Dove House Hospice in the first quarter of the year than the whole of last year.
The trust said the way patients and their illnesses are recorded has also been improved, while every death continues to be investigated.
Mrs Oade said: "Our doctors are committed to understanding, if the mortality rate is high, why it is high.
"They don't want there to be any avoidable deaths. They see that as a direct reflection on their clinical teams."
Report takes into account severity of illnessTHERE are various measures of mortality.
The Dr Foster Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio compares the expected rate of death in a hospital with the actual rate.
Dr Foster looks at patients with diagnoses that most commonly result in death.
For each group of patients, it can work out how often, on average, they survive their stay in hospital and how often they die.
This takes into account the age of the patient, the severity of their illness and other factors, such as whether they live in a deprived area. Dr Foster can then work out how many patients it would expect to die at each hospital and it is compared with the number of patients who actually die.
The Department of Health Summary-Level Hospital Mortality Index (SHMI) compares the number of expected deaths with the actual number recorded within 30 days of the patients' discharge.
If a patient dies from natural causes two weeks after they have been discharged from hospital, it will be counted as a hospital death under SHMI.
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