Objective To clinically evaluate a new patented multimodal system (SAFERSleep) designed to reduce errors in the recording and administration of drugs in anaesthesia. Design Prospective randomised open label clinical trial.Setting Five designated operating theatres in a major tertiary referral hospital.Participants Eighty nine consenting anaesthetists managing 1075 cases in which there were 10 764 drug administrations.Intervention Use of the new system (which includes customised drug trays and purpose designed drug trolley drawers to promote a well organised anaesthetic workspace and aseptic technique; pre-filled syringes for commonly used anaesthetic drugs; large legible colour coded drug labels; a barcode reader linked to a computer, speakers, and touch screen to provide automatic auditory and visual verification of selected drugs immediately before each administration; automatic compilation of an anaesthetic record; an on-screen and audible warning if an antibiotic has not been administered within 15 minutes of the start of anaesthesia; and certain procedural rules-notably, scanning the label before each drug administration) versus conventional practice in drug administration with a manually compiled anaesthetic record. Main outcome measuresPrimary: composite of errors in the recording and administration of intravenous drugs detected by direct observation and by detailed reconciliation of the contents of used drug vials against recorded administrations; and lapses in responding to an intermittent visual stimulus (vigilance latency task). Secondary: outcomes in patients; analyses of anaesthetists' tasks and assessments of workload; evaluation of the legibility of anaesthetic records; evaluation of compliance with the procedural rules of the new system; and questionnaire based ratings of the respective systems by participants. ResultsThe overall mean rate of drug errors per 100 administrations was 9.1 (95% confidence interval 6.9 to 11.4) with the new system (one in 11 administrations) and 11.6 (9.3 to 13.9) with conventional methods (one in nine administrations) (P=0.045 for difference). Most were recording errors, and, though fewer drug administration errors occurred with the new system, the comparison with conventional methods did not reach significance. Rates of errors in drug administration were lower when anaesthetists consistently applied two key principles of the new system (scanning the drug barcode before administering each drug and keeping the voice prompt active) than when they did not: mean 6.0 (3.1 to 8.8) errors per 100 administrations v 9.7 (8.4 to 11.1) respectively (P=0.004). Lapses in the vigilance latency task occurred in 12% (58/471) of cases with the new system and 9% (40/473) with conventional methods (P=0.052). The records generated by the new system were more legible, and anaesthetists preferred the new system, particularly

, head of analysis and feedback unit 3 ABSTRACT Objective To assess the feasibility of deriving patient safety indicators for England from routine hospital data and whether they can indicate adverse outcomes for patients. Design Nine patient safety indicators developed by the United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) were derived using hospital episode statistics for England for 2003-4, 2004-5, and 2005-6. A case-control analysis was undertaken to compare length of stay and mortality between cases (patients experiencing the particular safety event measured by an indicator) and controls matched for age, sex, health resource group (standard groupings of clinically similar treatments that use similar levels of healthcare resource), main specialty, and trust. Comparisons were undertaken with US data. Setting All NHS trusts in England. Participants Inpatients in NHS trusts. Results There was fair consistency in national rates for the nine indicators across three years. For all but one indicator, hospital stays were longer in cases than in matched controls (range 0.2-17.1 days, P<0.001). Mortality in cases was also higher than in controls (5.7-27.1%, P<0.001), except for the obstetric trauma indicators. Excess length of stay and mortality in cases was greatest for postoperative hip fracture and sepsis. England's rates were lower than US rates for these indicators. Increased length of stay in cases was generally greater in England than in the US. Excess mortality was also higher in England than in the US, except for the obstetric trauma indicators where there were few deaths in both countries. Differences between England and the US in excess length of stay and mortality were most marked for postoperative hip fracture. Conclusions Hospital administrative data provide a potentially useful low burden, low cost source of information on safety events. Indicators can be derived with English data and show that cases have poorer outcomes than matched controls. These data therefore have potential for monitoring safety events. Further validation, for example, of individual cases, is needed and levels of event recording need to improve. Differences between England and the US might reflect differences in the depth of event coding and in health systems and patterns of healthcare provision.

Head up tilt is an established test for assessing patients with vasovagal syncope. Prolonged asystole during the test has previously been reported in patients suffering from the malignant form of this syndrome. Little is known about the prognostic significance of this response and there is no consensus about the optimum treatment. Four such patients are reported who were treated pharmacologically. During follow up they remained free from major events and their symptoms were welil controiled. Conservative management is the initial method of choice and only if this fails should implantation of a dual chamber permanent pacemaker be considered. (Heart 1997;77:273-275 A 72 year old woman presented with a five year history of recurrent syncope occurring about once a week. The episodes were preceded by lightheadedness and once resulted in head injury. Physical examination was normal. The ECG, echocardiogram, and x ray of the cervical spine were normal. A 48 hour tape showed asymptomatic episodes of bradycardia at 41 beats/min. She underwent a tilt test and at four minutes she developed abrupt syncope. The ECG showed asystole for 30 seconds, followed by complete atrioventricular block. She was returned to supine position and 0-6 mg of atropine was given, after which she recovered completely. Metoprolol, 25 mg three times a day, was prescribed and she remained asymptomatic for the following 15 months. CASE 4 A 20 year old woman gave a 10 year history of recurrent syncope occurring almost daily, preceded by nausea and vertigo and associated with occasional incontinence. Physical examination was normal apart from a soft systolic murmur. Her electrocardiogram showed nonspecific T changes; a 24 hour tape was normal and an echocardiogram showed mild mitral regurgitation. The tilt table test was positive, producing a 48 second asystolic pause at 40 minutes of head upright position, associated with incontinence. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was started and the patient resumed sinus rhythm a few seconds later and regained consciousness. She was started on disopyramide, 250 mg twice a day, and after 13 months she still suffers infrequent presyncopal episodes but she has not had any further syncope. DiscussionThere is limited knowledge about the natural history of recurrent syncope although a documented non-cardiac cause as well as a normal 273 on 9 May 2018 by guest. Protected by copyright.

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