750 avoidable deaths a month in NHS hospitals, study finds

750 avoidable deaths a month in NHS hospitals, study finds One in 28 deaths can be attributed to poor care and study says standard death rates should not be used to rank quality of care

About 750 patients a month in NHS hospitals are dying unnecessarily, the largest review of “avoidable deaths” has found.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said one in 28 deaths could be attributed to poor care such as inattentive monitoring of the patient’s condition, doctors making the wrong diagnosis or patients being prescribed the wrong medicine. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Key measure of hospital quality does not give accurate indication of avoidable deaths London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Avoidability of hospital deaths and association with hospital-wide mortality ratios: retrospective case record review and regression analysis The BMJ