BMJ 2003;326:777-778 ( 12 April )

Editorials

Hospital mortality league tables

Question what they tell you---and how useful they are

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Last week (6 April) the Sunday Times published the latest annual assessments of hospital performance compiled by the Dr Foster organisation. Dr Foster claims to provide the "only authoritative and independent guides to UK health services in the public and private sectors" and seeks to "empower consumers and their doctors to make the best possible choices."1 Dr Foster has brought together a wealth of information, including equipment and services available at each hospital and how the hospital performs on waiting lists and complaints, but its hospital mortality figures will arouse the most interest. Many in the NHS and elsewhere will be asking themselves how they should respond to these data.

Four main questions need a response. Firstly, what do the data actually mean? A hospital does much more than treat inpatients. Over the past decade the scope and nature of ambulatory care provided in hospitals has changed enormously, not only in . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

What hospital mortality league tables tell you
Paul Aylin, Sir Brian Jarman, and Tim Kelsey
BMJ 2003 326: 1397-1398. [Extract] [Full Text]

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Hospice availability
Gail Ashington
bmj.com, 17 Apr 2003 [Full text]
What do hospital mortality league tables tell you?
Paul Aylin, et al.
bmj.com, 24 Apr 2003 [Full text]
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