Hospital criticised for poor selection of patients for transplants

摘要

Ten patients who died after receiving a heart transplant at St George's Hospital in London last year should never have been put forward for the operation, according to a report by the health service's watchdog. The St George's heart and lung transplantation programme was suspended last October after the trust noticed that the number of deaths after heart transplantations shot up between December 1999 and September 2000. An investigation by the Commission for Health Improvement into the 10 deaths, from 14 transplantations, concludes that they were more than just a statistical blip. Poor assessment and selection of patients were largely to blame for the deaths, says the report, which was published this week.