Hospital standardised mortality ratios: their uses and abuses

Date: 04/11/2010
Stock Code: BRI020801
Format: Electronic

Boards, commissioners and the media commonly use them in league tables as a quality indicator. HSMRs particularly hit the headlines when Dr Foster published its Good Hospital Guide in November 2009, and when the Francis Inquiry reported on care at Mid Staffordshire Hospital in February 2010.

This Briefing looks at how best to interpret HSMRs and how far they can be used as a reliable indicator of hospital quality by organisations, patients, commissioners, the media and the public.