A hospital trust has been recognised for having among the lowest mortality rates in the UK.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Peter Coles told board members this week about the trust's success in the annual Good Hospital Guide.

The guide, developed by the independent health information service Dr Foster showed the trust had a hospital standarised mortality ratio (HSMR) of 82, ranking it fourth highest in the UK.

HSMR is an indication of death rates for patients having certain types of operations in the trust's hospitals.

The ratio compares the actual number of deaths with the expected number of deaths, and takes account of factors including the age and sex of patients, their diagnosis, whether the admission was planned or an emergency, and the length of stay.

If the trust has an HSMR of 100, that means that the number of patients who died is exactly as it would be expected taking into account the standardisation factors.

An SMR above 100 means more patients died than would be expected; one below 100 means that fewer than expected died.

Trust medical director Matthew Fletcher said: "This is a fantastic achievement which recognises that patients treated at our hospitals are receiving top quality clinical care.

"It is also an excellent indicator for patients that there are few other hospitals where they are in safer hands."

The figures produced as part of the Good Hospital Guide compare the trust with 152 organisations nationally.

As well as being fourth best in the country, the trust's death rates are the lowest within the Sout East Coast Strategic Health Authority area.