Because of the significant rise in the number of fatalities and catastrophic injuries that could have been avoided that have taken place in hospitals in Victoria, particularly in children, a brand new support service has been set up to help those affected by these tragedies.
In the year 2021/22, Victoria recorded 240 sentinel events, which is a 43 per cent increase over the previous year, when only 168 were documented. This is a significant increase in the number of sentinel occurrences reported in the hospitals.
It was reported that children took part in 38 of the 240 events, which is over double the number of children who took part in the events the previous year.
A patient’s death or significant physical or psychological impairment as a result of flaws in the system or processes is referred to as a sentinel event. Sentinel events are used to monitor the quality of care provided. An unanticipated occurrence that results in a sentinel event is what we refer to as a sentinel event.
One incident out of every three of those 240 took place with a patient who was deteriorating in their condition. In fifty per cent of the cases involving children, there was a need to recognize and respond to the deterioration of the children’s condition.
Because of the rise in hospitals, the state government made the decision to build a family-driven support program that would be known as Safer Care for Kids. The goal of this service is to improve the way that children are cared for when they are obtaining emergency medical attention in hospitals.
On Monday, the Victorian health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, expressed her condolences to the families of the children who had been negatively impacted, including those who had worked to design Safer Care for Kids. She also thanked those families for their contributions to the development of the program.
On the passing of this terrible event, please accept my heartfelt sympathies. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
“We will never be able to put a stop to what has occurred, but we are going to do everything in our power to prevent it from ever happening again.”
The newly formed organization will be an extension of Safer Care Victoria, which was established in 2017 and records sentinel events on an annual basis. The newly formed organization will report on sentinel occurrences in the same manner.
According to the findings of the study conducted this year, there has been an increase in the number of reported sentinel events that are associated with the deterioration of patients, particularly youngsters. In addition, the study provides three recommendations concerning the treatment of minors, all of which the government asserts that it will carry out in their entirety.
In the event that parents or other caregivers feel as though their concerns are being unnoticed, the program Safer Care for Kids is designed to give them an extra outlet via which they can express such concerns.
According to what Thomas had to say, “No one knows a child as well as their parents,” and “we need to do a better job listening to parents.” Thomas also emphasized the need to improve how effectively we listen to parents.
In addition to this, the establishment of a digital pediatric consultation platform will take place. This will make it possible to have access to the knowledge and experience of pediatric professionals at any time of the day or night.
When recording a child’s vital signs, it will soon be common practice to make use of charts that are standardized and adapted to the child’s age group. This will become a requirement.
The implementation of Safer Care for Kids will take place in close partnership with health services located all throughout Victoria as well as with families who have firsthand knowledge of sentinel events that have an impact on children.
