“Red light” warnings have been given to 21 hospital trusts for their high stillbirth and newborn baby death rates. The neonatal death and stillbirth rates at these trusts are 10% higher than the average. The mortality rates have been published in a report by MBRRACE-UK.
Professor Jason Gardosi, director of the Perinatal Institute, a not-for-profit organisation said, “Regrettably, many trusts still seem to have a head-in-the-sand approach. All trusts should evaluate their deaths to understand whether the tragedy could have been avoided.”
An editor of the report, Professor Elizabeth Draper of Leicester University said, “Trust and health boards that fall into the red band in the MBRRACE-UK report have been identified as having a perinatal mortality rate of more than 10% higher than average for similar trusts and health boards. There are many reasons why trusts and health boards may have a higher rate, and we recommend they carry out a standardised review of all their deaths to look for opportunities to improve care.”
She further stated, “The presence of a high rate is not necessarily an indicator of poor care as there may be other factors, which we have been unable to account for, that may have contributed to this rate. However, given the available data, our statistical methods provide the most informative rates available.”
