PREMATURE babies in the North-East may be dying needlessly because of inadequate standards of hospital care, although survival rates are improving.

The Confidential Enquiry into Stillbirths and Deaths in Infancy (CESDI) carried out a study of the quality of care of babies born after 27 to 28 weeks of pregnancy in England, Northern Ireland and Wales between 1998 and 2000.

Of these, a total of 88 per cent were still alive a month after birth but the inquiry found that some of the remaining 12 per cent might have survived if standards of care had been better.

In the Northern region, the survival rate was below the national average at 82.4 per cent. Only Merseyside was lower at 79.8 per cent.

However, when the figure was broken down for the years 1998 to 1999 and 1999 to 2000, it showed an improvement from 78.7 per cent to 87.7 per cent.

David Walker, director of public health for County Durham and Tees Valley Health Authority, said: "The general standard of care has improved dramatically over the last 15 years and we are learning all the time.

"But even with the best health care in the world, some babies born at 27 or 28 weeks are just not going to survive."

Experts on the CESDI panel, set up by the Government to gather information on infant mortality, found a range of shortcomings which could be contributing to premature baby deaths, including inadequate numbers of skilled staff, and poor standards of ventilation and resuscitation.

Another deficiency was the "haphazard" movement of mothers with at-risk pregnancies and premature babies between different hospitals.

The Department of Health said a number of new guidelines had either been issued or commissioned in response to CESDI findings.

A spokesman said: "While more needs to be done, the inquiry acknowledges that there have been significant improvements and medical advances."