Patients need all the help they can get to avoid costly errors

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This was published 6 years ago

Patients need all the help they can get to avoid costly errors

Australians are fortunate enough to have access to what is widely recognised as one of the world's leading healthcare systems.

A study last year by the Commonwealth Fund in the US ranked Australia second out of 11 different national healthcare models. The UK came first and the US was last.

However, that is not to say our system is perfect. There are many shortcomings, and almost every week serious errors, or even tragedies, come to light.

For anyone who has had to enter a hospital, it can be a daunting and bewildering experience. For an unlucky few, mistakes occur - ranging from minor misdiagnoses and discomfort through to major mistakes that can, at worst, be fatal. The stakes are high.

Which brings us to Dorothy Kamaker. As health editor Kate Aubusson reveals today, Ms Kamaker

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was admitted to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney's Camperdown in December with excruciating abdominal pain.

Because of her work as a trained patient advocate and veteran nurse, with an anaesthetist husband, she was confident of getting first-rate treatment.

What happened over the next 60 hours left her shaken, angry and even more convinced of the need for independent patient advocacy.

The founder of Patient Advocates Australia endured a litany of errors that led to agonising pain that only ended, she said, when she engaged the services of her own patient advocate.

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Three separate staff members warned Ms Kamaker during her admission that she was in trouble and her case was being mismanaged.

RPA conducted an investigation. It apologised unreservedly and counselled staff members.

The case highlights what can go wrong and how easily patients can be ignored and mistreated.

Almost one in 10 patients in Australian hospitals have some form of complication – about 900,000 patients a year, according to a Grattan report published in February.

Navigating the complex medical system has become harder. With the growing emphasis on patient-led care, the need for some sort of patient advocacy has become more of an issue.

One response has been the establishment of the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission’s REACH initiative – a rapid-response program that lets patients or their families escalate their concerns when they feel their condition is deteriorating and staff are not responding.

Some hospitals employ patient liaison officers, and nurses and other healthcare professionals also play advocacy roles, but there is an obvious conflict of interest.

So hiring an independent patient advocate might be a good option for some. Their independence is part of their strength.

However, the profession is both unaccredited and unregulated. The small numbers involved - there's only a handful of practitioners in Sydney - has meant there is little specific research evaluating their effectiveness. There is definitely more work needed in this area.

Cost is another factor. Fees can be up to $150 an hour and are not covered by health insurance, so only those with the means will be able to use such advocates, under the present regime.

The underlying issue is the need for patients to have access to help when things go wrong. This might come from within the system, or from outside. Either way, even a small number of errors is unacceptable when people's lives are on the line. The more options patients have, the better.

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