Death rates at 12 NHS hospital trusts in England were alarmingly high last year, according to an influential report.
The number of patient deaths are above expected levels at the 12 trusts, the Dr Foster Hospital Guide found.
Patient safety is also being risked because hospitals are “full to bursting”, with many regularly breaching the 85% limit set in place to protect patients.
Figures shows that in 2011-2012 occupancy was running at 88% in midweek, while averaging 90% for 11 of the 12 months, excluding quiet periods including Christmas, The Guardian, which has seen the report in full, added that the national level was over 85% for 230 of the 365 days of last year, and over 90% for 19.
Dr Andrew Goddard, the director of the medical workforce unit at the Royal College of Physicians, which represents hospital doctors, told the Guardian: “If you ask any doctor in this country they would say that the system is straining to burst; particularly in winter, but now it's increasingly happening the rest of the year.
The 12 hospital trusts where the number of deaths are higher than expected in two of the four mortality indicators are: Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust.
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