FIVE hospitals in Scotland have been ordered to take action to address high death rates following NHS patient safety checks, it has emerged.
The in-house health service watchdog, Health Improvement Scotland (HIS), called on four of the hospitals to produce action plans after figures showed higher-than-expected "standardised mortality ratios".
In the most recent case, death rates at Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway have triggered a review which is still in its early stages. It follows concerns raised in February last year at Monklands Hospital, North Lanarkshire, and in August at Fife Combined Hospitals.
The Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline – part of Fife Combined Hospitals – and the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, were ordered to take action in 2010 after their death rates caused concern.
The reviews were ordered on the basis of figures, gathered quarterly, which show the number of patients who die within 30 days of admission to hospital. The figures have been collected at 31 hospitals across the country since 2009 as part of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme.
Details of the five hospitals where HIS has intervened were revealed by Health Secretary Alex Neil in response to a parliamentary question from LibDem health spokesman Jim Hume. Mr Hume said: "After the waiting times scandal and the A&E crisis, the news that five separate reviews into unexpectedly high numbers of deaths in Scotland's hospitals have been ordered is yet another NHS failure on the SNP's watch.
"I am particularly concerned by two of those reviews involving the Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline, where steps are still being taken to rectify the problems identified last year.
"The Health Secretary must explain what was happening in these hospitals to warrant a review. He must also publish the full findings of each review as well as the steps taken at each hospital to improve their performance."
Mr Neil said mortality rates at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Vale of Leven Hospital, West Dunbartonshire, fell by 13.5% after an action plan was implemented. Figures from the two hospitals have been collected together since concerns were raised at the Royal Alexandra.
Death rates fell by 11.9% at Monklands and by 12.5% at Fife Combined Hospitals, according to the latest figures.
The latest figures show that, from July to September last year, 5794 hospital patients across Scotland died within 30 days of admission, the lowest figure ever recorded. Mr Neil said: "Figures show that acute hospital mortality across Scotland continues to reduce significantly, by 12.4% since 2007.
"That equates to around 8500 fewer deaths than expected, a result of our robust safety system working.
"I am fully committed to our stated aim to reduce mortality in Scotland's hospitals by 20% by the end of 2015."
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