Patients’ voices must be heard to stop further needless deaths, warns mother

IT is a cautionary tale, the story of 21-year-old Kevin Murphy’s tragic death, precipitated by a breakdown in communication among healthcare staff.

Yet Kevin’s story and others like it would not have registered in the findings of the latest patient survey, launched yesterday, because hospital deaths and the experience of patients transferred from one hospital to another were not included. Instead, the survey logged the experiences of almost 5,000 patients, lucky enough to be discharged home, 93% of whom reported satisfaction with the services they received during their hospital stay.

In welcoming the survey, as giving a voice to patients, Margaret Murphy, Kevin’s mother, pointed out it did not include the more complicated cases, where outcomes are often fatal.

The tragedy of her own son’s death was that his condition - hypercalcemia - is eminently treatable in the early stages with a 96% success rate. Yet Kevin, from Tracton Place, Montenotte, Cork, died in September 1999, a year and 10 months after he was diagnosed with elevated levels of calcium in his blood.

Following diagnosis, Kevin was not informed by his doctors of his condition.

Medical staff who saw him on admission to hospital in 1999 also failed to notice results from a blood test, which were written on a Post-it note attached to a letter.

Kevin’s story highlights the vital importance of communication between doctor and patient and between healthcare staff. The Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare (ISQSH) survey found many of the problems related either directly or indirectly to communication. During their hospital stay, approximately one in 10 patients were not informed of their condition or treatment in a way they understood and many patients couldn’t ask questions of their healthcare team because staff were too busy.

Margaret, who has become an international spokeswoman for patients and is a member of the World Health Organistion’s World Alliance for Patient Safety, said it was essential that the patient’s voice be heard. She said the anecdotal element of a patient’s experience could not be dismissed.

“It is not always seen as evidence-based. There needs to be some mechanism in place to translate anedoctal evidence into evidence-based accounts.”

Margaret said systems also needed to be put in place to prevent recurrence of adverse events in hospitals. She said dealing with hospital-acquired infections should be a priority to prevent further needless deaths.