BRADFORD’s hospitals have the second lowest mortality rate in the country, according to a leading national health research organisation.

The study by Dr Foster, an NHS partner organisation that collates and analyses healthcare data, also placed Bradford Hospitals in the top 20 for patient safety after ranking hospital trusts on a range of safety measures.

Only one hospital came above Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the ratings on hospital standardised mortality ratios (HSMRs).

HSMRs measure the likelihood of individual patients dying given their underlying condition, age and deprivation group – compared against the actual number of deaths that occurred.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals scored 74 while the Royal Free Hospital in London achieved 71.

The trust was also awarded 87.67 out of 100 for a single patient safety score and received an excellent  patient safety banding of four out of five after being assessed across a range of safety measures.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust chief executive, Miles Scott, said: “We welcome being named – yet again - one of the safest hospitals in the country.

“At Bradford, the safety of our patients is of the utmost importance and everyone has made enormous efforts to improve our mortality and crash call rates, medicines management, peri-operative care and infection control.

 “Patient safety runs to the very core of our organisation and a low mortality rate shows that the wellbeing of our patients is crucial to our care and our success.”

The hospital guide identifies and analyses performance across the English NHS and was originally published to encourage greater transparency about healthcare performance.

Recently Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was awarded ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ ratings by the Care Quality Commission.

These ratings give a detailed picture of how the Trust is making progress on issues that matter most to patients, such as infection control, waiting times and access to services.

The high Dr Foster ratings and the excellent Care Quality Commission awards signify that the Trust is one of the highest rated Trusts in Yorkshire.