Claims that Walsall Manor Hospital tried to hide the true level of deaths on its wards by declaring hundreds of extra patients as terminally ill have been dismissed by bosses who have instead admitted errors in categorising patients.

It was alleged hundreds of extra patients were treated as being terminally ill in order to remove deaths from mortality rates over a period of more than six months.

The number of patients designated as “terminal” by bosses at Walsall Manor Hospital dramatically increased during a six month period in 2008.

But health chiefs have now insisted scores of patients were mistakenly given the ‘palliative care code’ and bosses failed to immediately link this to standard mortality rates dropping.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust bosses also insist there was no rise in the deaths at the Manor and once it came to light codes use was changed.

Chief executive Richard Kirby told a meeting of Walsall Council’s health scrutiny panel last night an investigation was being carried out and findings will go before the board next month. Professor Sir Brian Jarman claimed at the public inquiry into standards at Stafford Hospital that the Manor had tried to cover up how many patients died on wards.

Sir Brian, from the Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College London, said from early 2008/09 the number of terminally ill patients in Walsall increased from 10 per cent of deaths to 78 per cent.

The hospital trust says hospital standard mortality rates excludes those deaths which may have been expected because of a patient’s condition within recognised palliative care.

Mr Kirby said the Manor was “not using these codes properly” at the time and would expect such an abnormality to be picked up in the future.

“The actual number of deaths in the hospital during the period was reported to the board and did not vary from the normal pattern of previous years,” he added.