LEIGHTON Hospital has the seventh highest 'death rate' in the country, it has been revealed.

New figures have shown that deaths at the hospital, which is run by Mid Cheshire Hospitals' NHS Trust, are 14 per cent above anticipated levels - and the highest in the North West.

The study was published in the Sunday Times following extensive research on hospital admissions over the past 10 years.

It also revealed that:

The Trust is in the bottom 50 of 174 English Trusts for the number of doctors and nurses per 100 beds.

Inpatient waiting times are also in the bottom 50.

Only 15 Trusts more seriously fail the government requirement for all urgent breast cancer referrals to see a specialist within two weeks.

Meetings have already taken place between management and senior clinicians at Leighton Hospital to look at the possible causes of such a high mortality ratio.

But Simon Yates, chief executive of MCHT, which also covers Northwich's Victoria Infirmary, said: "It should be noted that the statistics are those published by the government in 2000 and based on data collected for 1999, and many changes have already been made."

"Of approximately 50,000 people admitted to Leighton Hospital, around 160 died within 30 days of emergency surgery, many of these emergencies were patients with very serious conditions such as coronary heart disease and cancer."

He added: "We look at all deaths in the Trust both individually and collectively to see if anything could have been done to prevent that occurrence and reduce future risk.

"I have complete confidence in the clinical staff in the Trust and the figures we provide this year based on the year 2000 will show an improvement."

Hugh Lamont, spokesman for the NHS Executive North West, said patients should still feel reassured that they will receive a quality service from Leighton Hospital.

"We have welcomed the figures because they allow us to address the issues and improve standards, not just in Mid Cheshire but across the whole of the North West," he said.

"When people see that their local hospital has a higher death rate than others they become concerned, but these figures are very marginal and do not account for regional high levels of illness."

He added: "But the results don't mean that Leighton is a poor hospital and patients should be reassured that they will get the good service that they need."