A newborn is treated at the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children in Da Nang City. (Photo: VNA)and child mortality rates could be reduced in Vietnam if hospitals actively
seek solutions to prevent medically adverse events and , the
Maternal and Child Health Department of the Ministry of Health has recommended.
When a medically adverse event occurs, necessary
steps that could solve the problem should be taken, Nguyen Duc Vinh, the
department’s head, said at a healthcare conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on August
21.
“Maternal and neonatal mortality is unavoidable,
but it is very important that health officials seek methods to solve medical
errors to reduce the mortality rate,” Vinh said.
Medically adverse events are defined as an
injury caused by medical management rather than by the underlying disease or
condition of the patient, according to the Florida State University College of
Medicine’s website.
According to the department’s statistics, 134
medically adverse events were reported between 2016 and 2018. Of these, 45
caused maternal mortalities and 16 neonatal mortalities.
Vinh blamed the problem on overcrowding of
patients at hospitals, and lack of compliance with professional regulations
issued by hospitals and the Ministry of Health. The poor capacity of health
officials is another problem, he added.
In many provinces, for instance, doctors have
failed to detect abnormal signs while examining pregnant women, and several
women have been treated for abnormal signs when there were none.
Potential signs of postpartum haemorrhage,
uterine rupture and hypertension have also not been detected in time.
Dr Nguyen Ba My Nhi, Deputy Director of Tu Du
Obstetrics Hospital, told Vietnam News that postpartum haemorrhage, puerperal
eclampsia, uterine rupture and puerperal sepsis are the leading causes of
maternal mortality in Vietnam. Hospitals throughout the country continue to see
a large number of patients.
The Tu Du Hospital, for instance, last year
admitted 400 patients with postpartum haemorrhage caused by placenta accreta,
which was abnormally attached to the inside of the uterus. The figure had
increased from 130 in 2013.
Nhi blamed the increase on the increasing number
of C-section operations.
Another leading cause of maternal mortality is
puerperal sepsis, although the complication can be treated with antibiotics.
However, multiple antibiotic resistance is at a high level in Vietnam compared
to other countries.
The hospital admits 70,000 pregnant women for
delivery every year, Nhi said, adding that more than 40 percent of them have a
C-section.
“The rate for C-sections is high. During
surgery, there is potential for a medically adverse event,” she added.
Dr Le Nguyen Nhat Trung of the city’s
Paediatrics Hospital 2 said that doctors at the hospital and others in the city
have provided professional training for hospitals in the southern and central
regions, and the Central Highlands.
The quality of treatment, however, in these
regions has not improved because of the shortage of doctors, nurses and
equipment.
Gia Lai Paediatrics Hospital has 40
beds, and five doctors and nine nurses who provide neonatal health care
services, but the province has 15,000 births a year.
The hospital also does not have sufficient
equipment to meet demand, Trung said.
Kon Tum General Hospital has only one
doctor specialising in neonatal care, which is one of the causes for medically
adverse events, he said.
At Dak Lak province’s General Hospital, rooms
are narrow and damp so it is difficult to control hospital-acquired infections.
Every year, the hospital has more than 140
newborns who die and nearly 150 cases are transferred to hospitals for
treatment in the city.
Dr Nguyen Kien Mau of the city’s Paediatrics
Hospital 1 said that nearly 80 percent of newborns who died at the hospital had
been transferred from provincial-level .
Nhi of the Tu Du Hospital said that unsafe
transfer from other hospitals had also occurred, resulting in injury or
fatality.
Trung suggested that hospitals in provinces
should recruit more doctors and nurses, as well as buy new medical
equipment.
To reduce medical adverse events, the Tu Du
Hospital has created a management process for them, according to Nhi.
“When an event occurs, the hospital’s managers
and staff have to question why, how and what, so they can seek solutions,” she
added.
Moreover, managers of the hospital should
encourage staff and doctors to speak up and report so
they can arrive at the proper solutions.
In the past, no doctor had reported such adverse
events, but last year, 40 percent of the hospital’s doctors did so.
“Mistakes are stepping stones to success,” Nhi
added.
Like the Tu Du Hospital staff, Paediatrics
Hospital 2 staff also reports adverse events online and sends documents to the
hospital’s managers every day if such events occur.
In addition, the hospital frequently opens
training courses to improve staff capacity and healthcare quality.
More investment in modern equipment is
considered one of the solutions to curb the number of medically adverse events,
according to the hospital.
Moreover, the attitude of health staff toward
patients and communication with patients and their relatives about health problems
needs to be improved.-VNS/VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
