The Whittington Hospital has the lowest rate of deaths in the country

Also in the top five hospital trusts nationally for lowest mortality rates were the Royal Free in Hampstead, University College London Hospital in Bloomsbury and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.

The figures, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, are for January to December 2012.

The Whittington, in Magdala Avenue, Highgate, was in top spot for all four quarters of last year.

Dr Martin Kuper, medical director at Whittington Health, the trust which runs the hospital, said: “We’ve got excellent staff who are very committed to patient safety and I think we’ve got very good working relationships with our local community and GPs.

“We’ve done a lot with patient safety, in particular looking at our care for very ill people. Throughout the hospital, there is a commitment to patient safety.”

In second place for 2012 was University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, followed by Imperial College in third place and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in fifth place.

Professor Stephen Powis, medical director of the Royal Free, in Pond Street, said the figures demonstrated the clinical excellence of London’s hospitals.

He said: “We have a really dedicated group of clinical staff focused on patient outcomes.

“The range of specialities we have here means there is a wide range of expertise available to patients within the hospital.”