Mistakes made in hospital are more likely to affect patients who have difficulty communicating with their doctors, according to a new study. Patients could run a higher risk of being harmed by their treatment if they're deaf or blind, don't speak or understand English, or have a medical condition such as Alzheimer's. Many people who are admitted to hospital are elderly or seriously ill, and vulnerable to health problems. And, sadly, doctors and other health professionals do sometimes make mistakes. (Thanks for the re-assurance Doc !).Medical mistakes that can lead to health problems include:
Errors with medicines, such as giving the wrong drug or the wrong dose.Not treating a patient soon enough.Not checking on a patient often enough.Making a mistake during surgery that injures a patient.Not ensuring the patient understand what is happening, at every stage.
Deaf people who get health problems because of their treatment will need more care, more time, and/or have a longer stay in hospital. A few patients are harmed so seriously they have permanent disabilities, or even die. So it's vital for hospitals to prevent as many mistakes as they can. Researchers have looked at 2,355 patients treated in 20 hospitals. They wanted to see which patients were most at risk of being harmed by their treatment. What did this new study say?
People who had problems communicating with doctors and nurses were more likely to be harmed by avoidable errors with their medical treatment. The biggest risk was for people with physical problems that made it harder to communicate, such as being deaf or blind. The researchers also found some other factors that made it harder for patients to talk to their doctors, and which put them at greater risk of being harmed by their care. These included not speaking English, Not having suitable communication support at all times, or having a medical condition e.g. such as depression or anxiety.
The study found that overall, about 3 in 100 people in hospital were harmed or got health problems because of errors in their medical care. But for people who had a problem communicating, such as being deaf or blind, the chance of harm caused by a medical error trebled to 9 in every 100.
If you have difficulties communicating for any reason, it's important to make sure that medical staff understand your needs. You could be putting your health at risk if doctors and nurses don't have enough information to treat you correctly. If you have a friend or relative with communications difficulties, you could offer to help them to talk to the doctors and nurses treating them. For example, if you have a relative who is deaf or blind, they may benefit from your help in communicating with hospital staff. (This is putting the communication onus on the deaf surely ? and allaying 'blame' if it goes wrong ? Where did it mention your right to appropriate professional access ?)
Medicines are a common source of mistakes in hospital. Drugs can have side effects, or can react with other medicines you're taking, or be given in the wrong dose. This is an especially big problem for deaf people who may be taking treatments for several conditions at once. It's important to tell the doctors and nurses treating you about any medicines you are taking. It may help to write them down in a list. If you're worried you've been prescribed the wrong medicine, it's OK to ask someone to check.
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