Dr Foster Unit reports and methodology papers
Monitoring Hospital Mortality
The critical report on Mid Staffordshire’s failings in its delivery of emergency care came about partly as a result of the mortality alerts sent out from the unit. These in turn have evolved from the Real-Time Monitoring tool, developed in collaboration with Dr Foster Intelligence. During the same period this investigation was going on, a group from the University of Birmingham published both a report commissioned by the West Midlands SHA and a paper in the BMJ, both highly critical of HSMRs. The unit pulled together a robust response in the form of a stand-alone report and a published letter in the BMJ. There was a considerable amount of analysis carried out to support these responses with good evidence.
Monitoring Hospital Mortality: the response to the University of Birmingham
Patient Safety Indicators
Adaptation of patient safety indicators from work originally commissioned by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the US. These have been incorporated into the RTM tool.
Patient Safety Indicators Literature Review
Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) have been specifically designed to screen for potential patient safety problems using administrative data. PSI sets are still in the very early stages of development, with a number of methodological concerns yet to be addressed. This literature review provides a comprehensive guide to PSI research to date and aims to determine the application of PSIs within the secondary care setting.
Attention has been placed on identifying which PSIs are being applied, who they are being used by and how they are utilised.
