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Time to shut down the acute care conveyor belt?

Kenneth M Hillman, Gordon D Rubenfeld and Jeffrey Braithwaite
Med J Aust 2015; 203 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/mja14.01432
Published online: 14 December 2015

A rapid response system may be an appropriate model for meeting the urgent need for more suitable care for patients at the end of life

Hospitals can be dangerous places where people can unexpectedly die. Hospitals can also be dangerous places because people are not allowed to die. When they eventually die, it can be a prolonged and demeaning experience.1,2


  • 1 University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
  • 2 Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
  • 3 Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW


Correspondence: k.hillman@unsw.edu.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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