Call for monitors for patient safety

A patient safety expert is calling for independent ‘‘expert patient safety monitors’’ to be introduced to the country’s hospitals and general practices to help minimise mishaps.

Following a British scandal that saw a breast surgeon go rogue and ‘‘butcher’’ women through needless mastectomies, Auckland specialist anaesthetist Professor Alan Merry has proposed a model he says would ensure New Zealand escapes any risk of similar headlines.

‘‘How do we, as a public person, know we can trust the hospital? I get that it’s not enough to say ‘trust us’,’’ said Merry, who is also chairman of the NZ Health Quality and Safety Commission board and head of Auckland University’s medical school.

This new model would allow these monitors to get to know the inner workings of hospitals and general practices to reassure the public and raise a red flag if they noticed problems mounting.

Merry revealed the concept to international medical professionals yesterday afternoon at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) in Brisbane – attended by more than 2000 delegates.

He posed the idea after the story broke of UK breast surgeon Ian Paterson, who has been convicted of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding after he performed needless mastectomies on women to make money.

These proposed monitors would need a high level of expertise and could sit alongside hospital boards and audit groups – most of which are confidential.

The concept would be a step further than what the Health and Disability Commissioner already does – which undertakes inquiries after the fact.

‘‘They’re still completely hands off. What I’m saying is it’s not good enough to sit there, wait for something to go wrong, then zoom in and whack people.’’

The monitor’s role would be to understand and oversee the quality improvement and safety initiatives in hospitals which ‘‘would be an investment ahead of problems. Mostly when things have gone wrong it’s because there’s a lack of internal systems to keep them on track.’’

The UK’S National Health Service has been accused of covering up Paterson’s actions – prompting talk around the system’s ability to detect rogue surgeons, and a culture where hospital staff were afraid to raise the alarm.

If such a system had existed in the UK, Paterson’s offending would have come to light far earlier, Merry said.

Merry believed New Zealand’s monitoring and accountability system through ACC and the Health and Disability Commissioner was among the best in the world, but still believed it should be taken a step further. HOW IT WOULD WORK: One monitor per major hospital. For general practices, they could rotate and visit once a week.

Would sit on district health boards and committees.

Accountable to an external legal agency, not the hospitals.

The reporter travelled Brisbane courtesy of ANZCA. to