Interventions to circumvent intensive care access block:  a retrospective 2-year study across metropolitan Melbourne

Stark, Helen E; Maxwell, Chris N; Gibberd, Robert W

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02796.x

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To the Editor: Duke and colleagues recently reported the excess mortality and extra bed-days caused by intensive care access block in metropolitan Melbourne.1 Access block is an important patient safety issue, and we report here additional data that support their results.

1 Performance and Outcome Services, Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, Sydney, NSW.
2 Health Services Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW.

Correspondence: hstark@achs.org.au

1. Duke GJ, Buist MD, Pilcher D, et al. Interventions to circumvent intensive care access block: a retrospective 2-year study across metropolitan Melbourne. Med J Aust 2009; 190: 375-378. <MJA full text>
2. Australian Council on Healthcare Standards. Australasian Clinical Indicator Report: 2001–2007. Determining the potential to improve quality of care. 9th ed. Sydney: ACHS, 2008. http://www.achs.org.au/pdf/AustralasianClinicalIndicatorReport _9thEdition_FullReport.pdf (accessed May 2009).

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