By Professor John Robertson OBA
The above funnel plot shows that all of Scotland’s hospitals had the level of mortality previously predicted on earlier data and on demographic factors such as age and levels of poverty in the catchment area.
The bigger urban hospitals such as QMUC on the extreme left right, are to the right and the very small, in rural areas and on the islands, to the left. Those below the blue line had slightly lower than expected mortality rates and those above had slightly higher rates. Those above the line remained within the normal range, suggesting no problems with, for example, infections, resources or staffing.
Smaller hospitals with smaller populations and fewer deaths are more difficult to predict and quarterly variations can produce bigger ratio changes.
No larger Scottish hospital had a higher than expected mortality rate.
Comparisons with NHS England are not straightforward and, in particular, their funnel chart is scaled differently, but the actual figures for some of the hospitals are revealing.
There are around 6 or 7 large hospitals in NHS England where around 600 more patients have died than were expected. These are deeply disturbing figures and suggest serious problems in staffing, equipment or hygiene. I am aware of no current investigations in these areas of major deprivation after years of Tory austerity.
Sources:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Ah, but….. huv ony o thae English hoaspitals hud pigeons shitting? Naw, thae dae it only et QEUH. Anas Sarwar is pure performatively bealin aboot it.
Alasdair Macdonald
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