„Unzureichende“ Fähigkeiten im Zusammenhang mit Todesfällen im Zusammenhang mit Operationen: Mindestens 50 % der Todesfälle von Menschen, die sich in Australien größeren chirurgischen Eingriffen unterzogen, wurden durch nichttechnische Fehler verursacht, darunter Entscheidungsfindung, Situationsbewusstsein, Kommunikation und Teamarbeit.

I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.5694/mja2.70055

From the linked article:

‘Inadequate’ skills linked to surgery-related deaths

**At least half of deaths of people undergoing major types of surgery in Australia were caused by non-technical errors, sparking calls for nationwide improvements.**

Using data from 2012-2019, researchers from the University of Adelaide and the Basil Hetzel Institute investigated the deaths of Australian patients who underwent general, cardiothoracic, orthopaedic, vascular, and neuro surgeries. The researchers chose to focus on these specialities because they have the highest number of surgical care-related deaths.

“**At least 50 per cent of surgical care-related deaths in these areas were linked to non-technical errors including decision making, situational awareness, communication and teamwork**,” said Professor Guy Maddern, the senior author of the study and Professor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide.

“Inadequate non-technical skills can have fatal consequences and helping surgeons to improve in this area should be a priority for Australia’s healthcare system.”

„30,971 surgical care-related deaths were reported to ANZASM, of which 3,695 were flagged with adverse events or areas of concern“

It was only 50% of the 3,695 deaths. And out of how many total surgeries?