Welcome to the hospital of the patient

摘要

In April 2006 one of the largest hospitals in the Netherlands hit the national headlines with the exposure of "scandalously" poor results for cardiac surgery. It was a sentinel event for Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen, and parallels were drawn with a similar scandal in the UK at Bristol Royal Infirmary in 2001. An investigation found death rates were close to three times the national average and ordered the (temporary) closure of Radboud's cardiothoracic centre.The problem was seen, senior staff freely admit, as symptomatic of a wider malaise in a hospital that paid too little attention to the quality and outcome of care and failed to openly discuss problems.