HEALTH chiefs in St Albans have been stung into action following figures showing the death rate following hip operations to be among the highest in the country.

Recent NHS performance statistics showed one in six patients died within 30 days of being admitted with a broken hip at St Albans and Hemel Hempstead hospitals - 50 per cent worse than Watford and Mount Vernon hospitals.

Now, West Herts Health Authority and West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust have set up a special project team to find out the causes of death following hip operations.

The two bodies are also meeting to find the best way to tackle the high rate of deaths following emergency surgery, which stands at six per cent, compared to a 3.9 per cent national average and 3.3 per cent at Watford and Mount Vernon hospitals.

Health authority chief executive Lynda Hamlyn said answers were expected by the end of the year and remedial work is to be carried out following the January 2001 authority meeting.

She said: 'We know that local people have been very concerned by these figures and we share that concern. We are committed to working with the trust to understand the nature of the problem and, more importantly, to take action.'

Trust medical director Howard Borkett-Jones said the project team would use the indicator in the NHS performance figures to act positively.

He said: 'Once we know why the situation exists, we will be in a strong position to take action to correct it. We are committed to an effective resolution.'

St Albans Tory parliamentary candidate Charles Elphicke said emergency admissions for hip fractures should be suspended while a medical audit is carried out.

He said: 'People have a right to expect top quality healthcare. Yet there are serious problems with emergency services and the health outcomes for a population that is the sixth most healthy in the country should be much better than merely average.

'There is a need for urgent action to improve services and restore the public trust.'

Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Nick Rijke said: 'I am amazed that they didn't already know that they had such a poor record compared to other hospitals.

'Local people are clearly concerned that no explanation was available when these figures were made available to the public.

'The truth is that our health service has been underfunded for years, by both Conservative and Labour governments. NHS staff are forced to work with outdated equipment, in decaying facilities.'

St Albans district councillor Dr Michael Jameson said: 'I was stunned when staff came to tell us how low morale is and how little confidence they have in management. But the trust is not only to blame for this - the health authority seemed to have failed in its role as well.

'It is the culture of complacency and of management being so remote from clinical staff that must change - and must change rapidly.'