LAHORE: After over a decade, the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) has, finally, realised the significance of mortality audit for the safety of the patients and issued directions to all the private hospitals to carry out mortality review of each death at their respective health facility.

The PHC issued an official directive for all the Category-I Healthcare Establishments (HCEs) across Punjab and issued a warning of legal action for not following the directions in letter and spirit.

Some senior experts supported the initiative of the PHC, calling the action `better late than never`.

While quoting some studies, they say the medical errors have been leading causes of deaths in some regions of theworld, with preventable errors contributing to a substantial number of fatalities annually.

There was a laid-down procedure for the families to seek compensation for `wrongful` death if medical negligence is proven.

However, most of the complaints about the death of the patients in Pakistan due to negligence have been going unreported, depriving their families of their fundamental right to take the negligent medics to the court of law.

The experts say the mortality audit, also known as death review, was a systematic process to analyse deaths, identifying contributing factors and potential areas for improvement in healthcare practices.

According to them, the mortality audit was being followed the world over as a crucial component for the accountability of the health professionals, safety of the patients and quality improvement to help reduce preventable deaths.

Unfortunately, the experts said, the PHC had ignored this mandatory requirement or avoided implementing it in the private sector healthcare facilities, most probably, due to the `influence` of the HCEs.

One of the experts said the mortalityaudit, if implemented in letter and spirit, would also help the medics understand the demographics of mortalities besides bringing down the death rate of the patients as well.

In the directive, the PHC said one of the prime objectives of establishing the commission was to ensure provision of quality healthcare to the patients and their safety.

`To actualise the purpose of the PHC in accordance with the mandate conferred under section 4(2) (0) of the Punjab Healthcare Commission Act 2010, the Commission hereby direct all the category-I HCEs across Punjab to ensure accurate and timely reporting of monthly mortality data through the designated mortality review system which is now accessible via the PHC Web Portal,` reads the directive of the commission.

The PHC directed the hospitals to officially nominate a mortality review focal person to coordinate the sharing of speciality-wise data and the performance of the mortality review committee through the above-mentioned portal.

`In view of the foregoing, all categoryI HCEs are hereby instructed to commence the submission of the monthlymortality data starting from Aug 1 on the HEC portal without fail`, reads the directive.

The PHC further directed that it is imperative that the data is submitted regularly on a monthly basis to facilitate informed decision-making, system improvement and accountability.

Furthermore, it would be the responsibility of the HCEs to notify the respective Mortality Review Committee and carry out the mortality review of all deaths taking place in their respective facility.

The detailed case-based information may also be inquired for data validation and regulatory review of red-flagged cases from unanticipated deaths, it said.

`This initiative is aimed at strengthening continuous quality improvement and ensuring patient safety and satisfaction`, says PHC.

In addition, it will also foster system accountability and evidence-based healthcare policy and planning.

`Non-compliance with the aforesaid directions may entail legal action as per the provisions of the PHC Act 2010 and the regulations made thereunder`, warns the PHC directive.