Does it matter who requests necropsies? Prospective study of effect of clinical audit on rate of requests
BMJ 1997; 314 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.314.7096.1729 (Published 14 June 1997) Cite this as: BMJ 1997;314:1729
- Imad S Kamal, senior registrara,
- Duncan R Forsyth, consultant geriatriciana,
- Jeannette R Jones, patient affairs officera
- a Department of Medicine for the Elderly, Addenbrooke's NHS Trust Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ
- Correspondence to: Dr Kamal
- Accepted 6 December 1996
Introduction
Despite the potential benefits of postmortem examination, rates are declining throughout the world.1 Reasons for this decline include the reluctance among doctors to request,2 relatives to give permission for,3 and pathologists to perform necropsies. This trend might be reversed by using medical education to change doctors' attitudes; delegating the task of requesting necropsies to other staff4; and increasing public awareness as to the potential benefits of necropsies. We prospectively studied the effect of clinical audit on necropsy rate and the subsequent effect of a patient affairs officer assuming responsibility for requesting necropsies.
Methods and results
Since March 1991 we have audited the necropsy rate in a 112 bed department of acute medicine for the elderly. The results of an initial six month audit and the …