Statement from Chief Executive Don McRae

MEDIA STATEMENT FOLLOWING SAFER CARE VICTORIA PATIENT SAFETY REVIEW

Seven cases were reviewed by Safer Care Victoria following a complaint. Four of the patients had died.

None of the cases were considered a ‘sentinel event’, which is a preventable serious safety event resulting in the harm or death of a patient.

Each of the cases were reviewed internally by clinical committees at LRH, as is the usual practice. These reviews are undertaken to identify any gaps in care or possible improvements.

A subsequent review and a site visit by Safer Care Victoria identified the opportunity for quality and safety improvements in our surgical program. Many of these were already underway prior to the review.

We continue to look for ways to enhance and strengthen our services and systems right across our organisation, regardless of SCV’s findings.

The site visit team commended LRH’s clinical governance, including internal reviews of our processes and our efforts to establish a safe and sustainable surgical program in collaboration with Alfred Health.

It also highlighted areas for improvement which we had not considered. These observations are beneficial.

LRH’s values and culture promote continuous improvement. Healthcare is a dynamic environment which is more complex and challenging than ever before, but patient safety will always be the priority.