Table 3.
Severity, outcomes and referrals of healthcare complaints related to intensive care units and the general wards
| Variable | Number of problems, ICUs (n = 441) |
Number of problems, general wards (n = 818) |
p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severity | |||
| Low | 228 (51.7%) | 510 (62.3%) | < 0.001 |
| Medium | 183 (41.5%) | 248 (30.3%) | |
| High | 30 (6.8%) | 60 (7.3%) | |
| Stage of care | |||
| Admission | 8 (1.8%) | 74 (9.0%) | < 0.001 |
| Examination and diagnosis | 7 (1.6%) | 51 (6.2%) | |
| Care on the ward | 267 (60.5%) | 443 (54.2%) | |
| Operation and procedure | 17 (3.9%) | 54 (6.6%) | |
| Discharge | 14 (3.2%) | 49 (6.0%) | |
| Unspecified or other | 128 (29.0%) | 147 (18.0%) | |
| Level of harm | |||
| N/A | 387 (87.8%) | 710 (86.8%) | 0.162 |
| Minimal | 13 (2.9%) | 48 (5.9%) | |
| Minor | 19 (4.3%) | 25 (3.1%) | |
| Moderate | 10 (2.3%) | 21 (2.6%) | |
| Major | 4 (0.9%) | 5 (0.6%) | |
| Catastrophic | 8 (1.8%) | 9 (1.1%) | |
| Staff group to which the complaint referred | |||
| Unspecified | 161 (36.5%) | 277 (33.9%) | < 0.001 |
| Doctor | 92 (20.9%) | 202 (24.7%) | |
| Nurse | 124 (28.1%) | 143 (17.5%) | |
| Other professional | 4 (0.9%) | 12 (1.5%) | |
| Other workers | 39 (8.8%) | 112 (13.7%) | |
| Administrative staff | 19 (4.3%) | 65 (7.9%) | |
| Other | 2 (0.5%) | 7 (0.9%) | |
N/A: No information on harm is reported