News Release

Lessons From The Bristol Case

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

(Lessons from the Bristol case)

In his editorial Professor Tom Treasure writes that a major issue in the Bristol case has been the nature of the information given to the parents - "there may be a place for giving an optimistic outlook to a patient judged to have no choice but it undergo high risk emergency surgery to save life, but the circumstances where that approach is justified are limited. There was no justification for a rosy glow in this case. A frank presentation of the risks and benefits to the family should include sympathy and compassion but this should not supplant frankness."

Treasure outlines the role that national audits for surgery can play in monitoring performance and concludes that if the profession must now monitor itself effectively so that a system of regulation is not imposed upon it.

Contact:

Professor Tom Treasure, Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, St George's Hospital, London

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