HOSPITALS in mid-Essex are among the most hazardous in the country for patients, the new Dr Foster report claims.
But Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust says it can’t understand how it fared so badly. The trust runs sites including William Julien Courtauld Hospital, Braintree, St Peter’s, in Maldon, and Broomfield, St John’s and the Chelmsford and Essex Centre, in Chelmsford.
It scored 19.18 points out of 100 for patient safety in the report, making it 118th out of 146 trusts.
The biggest area of failure was the number of people unexpectedly having to return to hospital within 28 days of being discharged.
The trust is also criticised for not fully complying with safety alerts, for not having a dedicated isolation ward and for the number of daycare patients who end up staying overnight.
However, death rates were generally lower than Government guideline figures.
Jo Triggs, head of trust communications said she “seriously questioned” how a trust rated as excellent for three years by the Care Quality Commission, with an above-average infection control record a low, death rate could be ranked so low by Dr Foster.
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