Surgery death rate double former total

Surgery may be leading to twice as many hospital deaths in Europe as has been assumed, a study has shown.

Figures from 500 hospitals in 28 European countries suggest a post-operative mortality rate of 4 per cent. This is more than double previous estimates.

In the UK, the figure was 3.6 per cent, compared with 1.6 per cent from an earlier study which collected data over half as much time.

Death rates varied widely between countries, ranging from 1.2 per cent in Iceland to 21.5 per cent in Latvia.

The research, published in The Lancet medical journal, involved 46,000 general surgery patients whose progress was monitored for up to 60 days.

Study leader Dr Rupert Pearse, from Queen Mary, University of London, said: “Nearly three-quarters of patients who died were never admitted to intensive care.”