THE death rate at Basingstoke hospital is among the highest in England, according to an influential healthcare monitor.

The Hospital Guide 2009 compiled by the Dr Foster Unit, based at Imperial College London, has flagged up a death rate 15 per cent higher than the national average.

And the hospital, in Aldermaston Road, languishes in the second-to-bottom of Dr Foster’s five bands for patient safety.

This is despite the hospital being rated in October as a “good” hospital by the official regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Roger Taylor, director and co-founder of Dr Foster, said: “High mortality rates are a sign that a problem might exist and that the trust should investigate further.”

Dr Foster Unit analysts recorded the hospital’s death rates in 2008-2009 using a hospital standardised mortality ratio (HSMR), which places the actual number of deaths against what would be expected, given the age of the local population and other factors.

Basingstoke hospital, with a score of 115, had the sixth-highest death rate nationally.

This helped bring down the overall patient safety score to 19 out of 100, ranking it in the bottom 30 of England’s 144 NHS trusts.

Emergency admissions were singled out as having a high death rate – 16 per cent above the national average.

But the highest death rate was for adults with broken hips, which was 32 per cent above average.

The revelations come as the Conservative Party published analysis showing 46 “excess” deaths at the hospital from 2007 to 2008.

Mary Edwards, chief executive of Basingstoke and North Hamp-shire NHS Foundation Trust, said the recorded excess deaths among those with broken hips could be explained by the medical profile of the patients the hospital was treating in that year.

She said: “It was noted that there were a number of seriously-ill patients with a high number of contributing medical conditions.”

The apparently high death rate among emergency patients was down to inaccurate recording of information, she said.

She explained: “If an emergency patient doesn't have their initial diagnosis linked on admission to all other illnesses or underlying conditions, then the emergency HSMR can appear higher than it should.”

The rate has continued to fall since the start of 2009, she said. Last month the ratio was one per cent above average.

The overall death rate reported by Dr Foster at Basingstoke 2008 to 2009 was 24 per cent higher rate than the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.

Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, meanwhile, was 20 per cent lower and Southampton General five per cent less than Basingstoke.

The highest death rates nationally were recorded in Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital, which was 31 per cent above average – it is currently at the centre of a care scandal.

Like Basingstoke, the CQC gave the Basildon hospital a “good” rating for its quality of service.

CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower said there was no evidence at Basingstoke hospital of the sort of failings found in the Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital But she said: “We will remain vigilant, taking account of any new information.”

The Patients’ Association said the findings should be taken seriously.

Kieran Mullan, the association’s spokesman, said: “Any issue with death rates should be thoroughly investigated.”

Basingstoke MP Maria Miller said: “It is particularly concerning to see such a high mortality level in this area.

“I am sure that the hospital will be looking carefully at the findings of the Dr Foster report.”

The latest news follows a safety alert issued in November 2007 by Dr Foster to the Healthcare Commission, which has since been replaced by the CQC, about the high mortality rates for hip operations at Basingstoke hospital.

The case was closed in May 2008 after the trust put into place an action plan to improve quality of care.

Mrs Edwards said an internal investigation was launched following the death rate alert but “no common medical cause was found”.