Table 5.
Personnel involved and type of communication failure by timing of failure. Because of infrequent occurrence, six claims with communication failures post-discharge and six claims with failures at other times were excluded from this analysis. Communication failures that did not involve a member of the anaesthesia team were not included in the analysis of personnel. Each combination of personnel involves only those listed and no others (e.g. communication failures between members of the anaesthesia team plus patient or family exclude cases in which the communication failure also included members of the surgical team). χ2 P-value.
| Pre-surgery or other procedure, n (row %) | During surgery or other procedure, n (row %) | Post-surgery, before discharge, n (row %) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personnel involved (n=412): anaesthesia team member(s) plus2 | <0.001 | |||
| No others (anaesthesia team only) (n=34, column % = 8%) | 4 (12) | 26 (76) | 4 (12) | |
| Surgical team (with or without nursing) (n=166; column %=40%) | 21 (13) | 118 (71) | 27 (16) | |
| Patient or family (n=43; column %=10%) | 36 (84) | 3 (7) | 4 (9) | |
| Other (n=169; column %=41%) | 60 (36) | 62 (37) | 47 (28) | |
| Type of communication failure (n=434) | 0.002 | |||
| Occasion (n=53) | 12 (23) | 26 (49) | 15 (28) | |
| Audience (n=53) | 9 (17) | 24 (45) | 20 (38) | |
| Purpose (n=43) | 17 (27) | 25 (40) | 21 (33) | |
| Content (n=169) | 87 (33) | 135 (51) | 43 (16) |
2
Column % do not add to 100% due to rounding.