Reducing Hospital Acquired Complications

St Vincent's Health Network

Finalist: Patient Safety First Award

In 2023, St Vincent’s Health Network (SVHN) had a high rate of Hospital Acquired Complications (HACs). Data showed 465 HACs for every 10,000 episodes of care.

To reduce the number of HACs, SVHN improved how they were identified and managed by:  

• Creating a process to review and confirm if a HAC occurred.
• Engaging clinicians in reviewing each case to make sure the data is accurate and reliable.  
• Building a dashboard to track results and give clinicians the information they need to improve care.  
• Establishing a multidisciplinary Steering Committee, led by an Executive to identify and target initiatives to reduce concerning HAC rates.
• Reviewing and adapting evidenced based practice and appropriate management strategies for high quality, safe care.

As a result, poor-performing HAC types dropped from 6 to zero, and HAC rates dropped significantly from 483 in the 2023 financial year to 298.3 per 10,000 episodes of care. This is the lowest rate of HACs since the collection of this data, and SVHN’s best result ever.​