Materia Medica Malaysiana

Probe into private hospital mortality rates

The higher- than-expected mortality rate in some private hospitals has prompted the Government to scrutinise all of them in its annual review, said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek.

Private hospitals will soon be made to report their mortality and morbidity rates to the Patient Safety Council, for all such medical cases to be documented and dealt with systematically.

Dr Chua said he hoped to implement this in the next six months. At present the ministry lacks the data to address the problem.

He said the council would also collect data on medical errors and negligence, investigate their root causes and recommend measures for patient safety.

The council will also address larger issues of patient safety and care, and work towards preventing the recurrence of certain kinds of errors or mishaps.

Dr Chua said he hoped the council would also be a channel for complaints.

Private hospitals, he added, should have an in-house review of mortality and morbidity cases. Many do not do so because the doctors have no time to attend such reviews.

He said hospitals should be concerned if their morbidity and mortality rates were high, and doctors should know when to say "enough is enough".

The council, approved by the Cabinet in January 2003, will be chaired by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohamad Taha Arif and comprise senior ministry officials, directors of university hospitals, presidents of professional bodies, representatives from the private sector and non-governmental organisations and the president of the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations.

The council has met twice to fine-tune its role and mission, terms of reference and strategies. Six sub-committees will look into data and information, consumer education and empowerment, continuing education, medical safety, transfusion safety, safe staffing and quality of work life.

Some 30 experts will be involved in the council and its sub-committees to get feedback from both public and private hospitals.

The Health Ministry’s incident-reporting programme monitors 30 types of incidents in hospitals so that lessons are learnt to prevent their recurrence.

These include medical errors, adverse outcomes of procedures, falls in the wards, adverse transfusion reactions, wrong procedures, complications in the ICU, injuries to neonates during delivery, and problems faced by patients under anaesthesia. Incident reporting will also be mandatory in the private sector.