An escalation system will be introduced in hospitals to enable parents to easily raise concerns about their child’s condition.
Known as Safer Care for Kids, the family-led project aims to improve outcomes for children in emergency care, according to the state government.
The government is introducing the system following a report from Safer Care Victoria (SCV) which noted an increase in sentinel events in hospitals related to patient deterioration, particularly among children,
Victoria recorded 240 sentinel events in 2021-22, an increase of 43 per cent on the year before when 168 were recorded.
Of the 240 events, 38 involved children, which is almost double the number from the previous year.
The new escalation system will be designed in close consultation with health services and will give parents an alternative pathway to raise concerns if they feel they are not being listened to.
Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said, “Every sentinel event is a tragedy. We will learn from each and every event to honour the children affected, and to ensure that it does not happen again – that’s why we’re making these important changes.
“Families who have lost their children because of a paediatric sentinel event have driven the launch of Safer Care for Kids and will be critical to its success – we thank them for their tireless and passionate advocacy.”
Ms Thomas said the escalation system was one of three key recommendations from SCV.
A virtual paediatric consultation system will also be introduced, which will provide 24-hour access to specialist paediatric experts and services.
The third change will be the mandated use of standardised and age-specific charts whenever a child’s vital signs are recorded. The standardised charts, known as the Victorian Children’s Tool for Observation and Response (ViCTOR), are already used across many Victorian health services to recognise and respond to clinical deterioration in children.
