A heart for every one of the 315 extra lives saved: Royal Surrey celebrates World Patient Safety Day | News

Life-saving treatment at Royal Surrey saw 315 more patients than expected returned to their loved-ones last year putting the Trust in the top ten performing across the country for patient safety.

According to statistics published by NHS Digital, Royal Surrey’s Summary Hospital-Level Mortality Indicator score (SHMI) for the year April 2023-March 2024, gives Royal Surrey a ‘lower than expected’ score of 0.78, against an expected score of 1. 

This means that for the 2023-2024 financial year, there were 315 fewer deaths than would be expected for the size of the hospital Trust. 

Staff are highlighting this excellent safety record in time for World Patient Safety Day on Tuesday 17 September, with artwork using individual home-made hearts to represent each of the 315 extra patients returned to their loved-ones.

Royal Surrey’s Chief Nurse, Jo Mountjoy (pictured above) said: “These statistics show that we have an excellent safety record, which is testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff.

“It’s wonderful to know that we have provided high levels of care for these patients, nursing them back to health and helping them have more time with their friends and families.”

Royal Surrey’s outstanding resuscitation service has contributed to this excellent record, with statistics from the 2023-2024 financial year showing a ‘survival to discharge’ rate of around 43 per cent for patients who suffered from an in-hospital cardiac arrest managed by Royal Surrey’s clinical teams. This is compared to the national average survival to discharge rate of around 22 per cent.