HSE announces standardisation of patients’ medical records

ALL patients’ hospital medical records are to be standardised next year to ensure vital information is not missed, the Health Service Executive (HSE) announced yesterday.

In the tragic case of 21-year-old Kevin Murphy, who died in 1999, medical staff failed to notice blood test results written on a Post-it in his file.

He was suffering from hypercalcemia, an eminently treatable condition in the early stages, with a 96% success rate. Kevin died, however, as a result of a series of missed diagnoses, lost opportunities, and inappropriate care.

His mother, Margaret, was appointed to the Commission on Patient Safety and Quality by Health Minister, Mary Harney earlier this year.

Director of Quality and Risk at the HSE’s National Hospital Office, Dr Mary Hynes, admitted at an international patient safety conference in Dublin yesterday that record management in Irish hospitals was poor.

In many of the more serious cases where patients suffered as a result of medical errors, staff record management was found to be a problem, she said.

The situation also made it difficult for medical professionals to defend medical claims because the record was inadequate.

“What we are trying to do is have the same medical chart in every hospital,” Dr Hynes told the conference, organised in conjunction with the World Alliance for Patient Safety and the Health Information and Quality Authority which was also attended by Mrs Murphy.

Dr Hynes said she would also favour patients getting written results of medical examination from doctors.

“I would welcome anything that helps to better inform patients and, again, that information would have to be standardised,” she said.

Earlier, the chairman of the World Health Organisation, Sir Liam Donaldson, told the medical profession to start listening to patients.

“We need to stop closing doors to patients and their families. We have got to show that we are willing to be open; we are willing to learn; we are willing to admit our mistake and, if we do that, I think we are going to see much safer care in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Commission on Patient Safety and Quality, Dr Deirdre Madden said it would be next summer before it completed its report for Minister Harney.

Dr Madden said the commission had to undertake a vast amount of research before deciding on whether the licensing of hospitals was in the best interests of the Irish healthcare system.