England has highest death rates of older patients in western world, study finds

England has the highest death rates of frail and older hospitalised patients in the western world, a landmark global study has found.

Harvard University, the London School of Economics (LSE) and the thinktank Health Foundation, all part of the International Collaborative on Costs, Outcomes and Needs in Care (Icconic), a global network of healthcare researchers, used thousands of official medical records to compare the cost and quality of care in 10 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.

Patient deaths are commonly used measures of performance in healthcare systems but until now there have been few sources of comparable death rates across countries.

In order to assess outcomes in frail and older patients, researchers focused on two groups that represent priority areas for the NHS and other healthcare systems: those in hospital with a hip fracture and those admitted with heart failure who have diabetes.

On both measures, England had higher mortality rates than all the other countries, which included the US, Germany, France, Sweden and Spain.

Dr Jennifer Dixon, the chief executive of the Health Foundation, said: “The findings of the Icconic study warrant urgent further investigation, particularly the finding of higher mortality among patients with hip fracture in the year after their admission for emergency treatment."

“That patients in England with hip fracture spend far longer in hospital after surgery than they would in other countries also highlights an opportunity to improve efficiency by reducing the avoidable use of hospital care. Less avoidably long stays would mean existing capacity could be better used to address the backlogs in hospital care as a result of the pandemic. This could contribute to both better outcomes for patients and, as hip fracture is the most common reason for emergency surgery, significantly improved productivity for hospitals across the country.”

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Source: The Guardian, 10 November 2021