Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association
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Objective The aim of the present study was to explore the potential of coronial inquest data to inform patient safety improvement in hospitals at a system level. Methods A retrospective analysis of 20 years of South Australian (SA) coronial inquest findings was performed using both qualitative content analysis methods and statistical descriptive analyses. Results In all, 113 cases were analysed. ⋯ The methods used in the analysis can be applied across other settings in Australian healthcare. In addition, the paper adds to an emerging body of research evidence in the Australian academic literature illustrating the benefits of reviewing coronial inquest data to inform patient safety initiatives. What are the implications for practitioners? Findings from this analysis can be used to further the knowledge and understanding of health practitioners working in hospital settings as to the type of patients, clinical incidents and medical management issues that have featured repeatedly in avoidable deaths reported by coroners.
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Objective The aim of the present study was to describe the Ambulance Victoria (AV) secondary telephone triage service, called the Referral Service (RS), for low-priority patients calling triple zero. This service provides alternatives to ambulance dispatch, such as doctor or nurse home visits. Methods A descriptive epidemiological review of all the cases managed between 2009 and 2012 was conducted, using data from AV case records, the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. ⋯ What are the implications for practitioners? The implications for practitioners are vast. Some of the issues that currently face paramedics include: fatigue because of high workloads; skills decay because of a lack of exposure to patients requiring intervention with skills the paramedics have, as well as a lack of time for paramedics to practice these skills during their downtime; and decreasing job satisfaction linked to both these factors. Implications for patients include quicker response times because more ambulances will be available to respond and increased patient safety because of decreased fatigue and higher skill levels in paramedics.
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Objective Emergency rooms play an important role by providing continuous access to healthcare 24 h a day, 7 days a week, but the lack of available hospital beds has become a major difficulty. Changing bed management policy could improve patient flow. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the consequences of a change in patient prioritisation on available beds. ⋯ What does this paper add? We compared several simulated scenarios corresponding to different bed management policies. The scenario that gave priority to planned admissions and surgery gave the most suitable results. What are the implications for practitioners? Postponing scheduled surgical patients was not an efficient procedure to solve hospital overcrowding.
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Objective The aim of the present study was to develop, implement and explore the effects of a program in advance care planning (ACP) within a tertiary hospital general medicine service. Methods Before-after exploratory mixed-methods analysis was conducted of an ACP program comprising seven components designed to overcome well-documented barriers to ACP in clinical practice. The results of pre-ACP program audits performed in June 2014 were compared with those of post-ACP audits performed over 5 months from July to November 2014. ⋯ What does this paper add? The present exploratory study of the development, implementation and evaluation of an ACP program in a tertiary hospital general medicine service shows that program components designed to overcome specific barriers to ACP discussions was associated with a >75% completion rate of advance care plans among ACP-eligible patients who participated in ACP discussions. Dedicated staff training and resources in ACP, employment of an ACP facilitator and ready access to ACP documentation forms were important enabling strategies. What are the implications for practitioners? Hospital units caring for significant numbers of older patients with limited life expectancy can implement ACP programs that help normalise ACP discussions within routine clinical care.