Hospital transfer hold-ups leading to preventable deaths: surgeons
The first national audit of deaths among transferred patients suggests poor clinical appraisal is often to blame, researchers say
Inadequate clinical assessment is a major modifiable cause of hospital transfer delays that end in the patient’s death, Australian surgeons say.
Their study of more than 8000 deaths following emergency admission and patient transfer found poor clinical assessment was 49.5 times more likely to cause transfer delays.
The Adelaide researchers defined inadequate assessment as a suboptimal or incomplete appraisal of the patient’s condition and what could be done about it that results in incorrect triage and delayed or incorrect diagnosis.
The researchers, from the University of Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said that proper clinical assessment was a cornerstone for making a decision about patient transfer.
