A case-controlled study of relatives' complaints concerning patients who died in hospital: The role of treatment escalation/limitation planning.

OBJECTIVES

To independently assess quality of care among patients who died in hospital and whose next-of-kin submitted a letter of complaint and make comparisons with matched controls. To identify whether use of a treatment escalation limitation plan (TELP) during the terminal illness was a relevant background factor.

DESIGN

The study was an investigator-blinded retrospective case-note review of 42 complaints cases and 72 controls matched for age, sex, ward location and time of death.

SETTING

The acute medical and surgical wards of three District General Hospitals administered by NHS Lanarkshire, Scotland.

PARTICIPANTS

None.

INTERVENTION

None.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Quality of care: clinical 'problems', non-beneficial interventions (NBIs) and harms were evaluated using the Structured Judgment Review Method. Complaints were categorized using the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool.

RESULTS

The event frequencies and rate ratios for clinical 'problems', NBIs and harms were consistently higher in complaint cases compared to controls. The difference was only significant for NBIs (P = 0.05). TELPs were used less frequently in complaint cases compared to controls (23.8 versus 47.2%, P = 0.013). The relationship between TELP use and the three key clinical outcomes was nonsignificant.

CONCLUSIONS

Care delivered to patients at end-of-life whose next-of-kin submitted a complaint was poorer overall than among control patients when assessed independently by blinded reviewers. Regular use of a TELP in acute clinical settings has the potential to influence complaints relating to end-of-life care, but this requires further prospective study.