BMJ  2008;336:1268 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39601.736053.4E

News

Success of coronary artery bypass grafts let down by poor organisation

Caroline White

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Poor organisation, communication, and teamwork are letting down patients who need heart surgery, a UK audit of outcomes and death rates after coronary artery bypass grafting has shown.

The investigation, which lasted three years, involved 39 NHS hospitals and 19 independent sector facilities in the United Kingdom.

Ian Martin, lead clinical coordinator of the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Death, said that he was not surprised by the findings.

"This is not atypical of other areas of medicine we have looked at. Not having the proper systems in place is not unique to cardiac surgery," he said. "But it should not be happening in this day and age. This is not about major resources."

But the success of the procedure had allowed some complacency to creep in, he said.

"Clinical operations are still largely well done," he added. "And there is an element of complacency about the death . . . [Full text of this article]


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