Inquiries begin into worrying 
death rates at three hospitals

A team led by Dr Mike Bewick, Deputy Medical Director at NHS England, was at Grimsby hospital yesterday and will be at Scunthorpe today and Goole tomorrow.

The Northern Linconshire and Goole NHS trust is among nine put under the spotlight in the wake of the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust.

The nine had higher than expected death rates for two years running. Public “listening” events are being held each day for the public to give their views as part of the Keogh review, led by Sir Bruce Keogh.

It comes as reports suggested that in future, councils could be ranked against each other in a national league table showing rates of premature death.

Under NHS reforms, councils have been handed the responsibility for public health and the project aims to show people how their local authority compares with their peers with data available online including an overall ranking, and indicators for cancer, liver disease, lung disease, heart disease and stroke.

Meanwhile members of the Royal College of Nursing, Unison and Unite are due to march in Grimsby on Saturday in support of staff working for the Care Plus Group.

Unite says the social business, which provides adult health and social care in north-east Lincolnshire, is trying to make £900,000 of cuts by tearing up terms and conditions laid down in a national agreement. A 45-day consultation with unions ended without agreement last month. Care Plus says it is reacting to “significant” funding cuts, but will not cut services or make staff redundant.