HELENSBURGH’S MSP has expressed concern after new figures showed higher than normal mortality rates at the Vale of Leven and the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) in Paisley.

The latest NHS statistics show death rates across the two hospitals are the highest in Scotland, and much higher than the national average.

For the final quarter of 2017, 391 deaths occurred within 30 days of admission – a 13 per cent increase on what was expected.

The figures for both hospitals are combined, so death rates for each individual hospital are unknown.

Jackie Baillie said the ‘standardised mortality ratio’ (SMR) for the two hospitals was consistently higher than the Scottish average throughout 2017 and 2016.

According to the figures, the SMR of 1.13 for the last three months of 2017 was the highest since the first three months of 2016.

Ms Baillie told the Advertiser: “This is not the first time that the Vale of Leven and the RAH have had above average death rates. In fact, their death rates have been above the Scottish average for the past two years.

“This is simply unacceptable.

“Last year we were told that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had been working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland to address this, but it appears to have made no difference.

“I am calling again for the death rates at the RAH in Paisley to be separated from those at the Vale so we can understand the true scale of the problem.

“Patients deserve to know why these hospitals consistently post higher than normal death rates, and an urgent enquiry must take place in order to address this continuing trend.”

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We routinely monitor the standards of care in the Royal Alexandra and Vale of Leven hospitals and improvement work has been already been carried out by the clinical teams.

“There are very active quality improvement programmes at these hospitals and a well developed set of arrangements which ensures ongoing monitoring and response to any quality issues which may emerge.

“We continue to work with the clinical and managerial teams, supported by Information Services Division and Healthcare Improvement Scotland, to identify factors that might be having a bearing on the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR) figures.

“We have regular meetings with Healthcare Improvement Scotland to discuss progress in resolving the factors contributing to HSMR.

“This period was associated with higher than normal levels of infectious respiratory illness, contributing to higher mortality in the local communities.”

“There are a small but significant set of information issues that the board is working to correct.”