THE number of expected deaths at the region’s hospitals are “as expected”, according to NHS data.

The Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI), which was released last week for the 12 months up until March 2019, shows that overall, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are ranked 62nd of the 130 NHS trusts included in the data, with a ratio of just over one.

This means that the actual numbers of deaths seen at the hospital is similar to the expected number, based on the types of patients seen.

There were 2,025 deaths at the Trust sites between April 2018 and March 2019, whilst it was expected that 2,005 of the hospital’s patients would die.

Alex Whitfield, chief executive of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “While SHMI is not a measure of the quality of care provided, being in the expected range shows that we are performing in the way we should when it comes to patient safety.

“The quality of care we provide is inspected and regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). During their most recent visit in April, inspectors from the CQC recognised improvements made to support our staff to provide the best possible patient care. Staff were also praised for putting patients first and ensuring that the health and safety of patients is effectively assessed.”

The SHMI is “the ratio between the actual number of patients who die following hospitalisation at the trust and the number that would be expected to die on the basis of average England figures, given the characteristics of the patients treated there”, according to the NHS website.

It includes causes such as TB, Sepsis, Bacterial Infection, HIV, Hepatitis and Cancer.

On site level, Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital (980 actual, 970 expected) slightly outperforms Royal Hampshire County Hospital (1,030 actual, 1,015 expected).

The numbers are also very similar to results from the previous calendar year, meaning that the Trust has maintained figures.

Alex continued: “There will always be areas where we can make further improvements and we will continue to listen to our patients and staff to ensure we are delivering outstanding care to our local community.”