SOUTHEND Hospital is set to introduce more beds for critically ill patients to help cope with extra demand over the winter months.

The hospital, which was recently shown to have a higher than average mortality rate, has allocated funding for “additional High Dependency Unit beds to support the demand which will peak in the winter months, a report to the hospital board revealed.

The hospital recently came under fire after an investigation revealed it had among the highest number of unexpected deaths in the country.

Professor Brian Jarman, who helped expose the Mid-Staffs hospital scandal, said his investigation showed Southend Hospital to be 17 per cent above the national average for such deaths.

The latest figures reported to the board showed a mortality rate of 1.17 deaths, up from September 2016 when it was 1.15. This is against a national standard of 0.89 to 1.12.

The report said 32 per cent of deaths occurred out of the hospital within 30 days of discharge from a hospital admission, raising the fear patients could be being discharged too early to free up much-needed beds.

Neil Rothnie, Medical Director at Southend Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said everything was being done to bring down the mortality rates.

He said: “Since we identified an upward trend in our summary hospital-level mortality indicator (SHMI) we have implemented new measures, including adopting a standardised and transparent approach to learning from the care provided to patients who have died.

“It is important to remember that it can take a year for the actions and initiatives we are undertaking to be reflected in a changing SHMI score. “

Mr Rothnie added: “We are continuing to follow national guidance to help us identify and address the reasons behind our SHMI score which includes auditing the data that is used to produce it.

“We will also be publishing a report which provides information on the outcomes of case note reviews of patients who have died.”

The board report said the trust’s mortality action plan wasn’t introduced until July 2016 and therefore “the full impact of the changes are unlikely to have been realised”.