Table 2

Characteristics of decedents with and without opportunities for quality improvement

 Opportunity for improvementNo opportunity for improvement
N=80N=347p Value
Gender
 Female32 (40.0%)174 (50.1%)0.11
Age at admission
 Mean (SD)71.4 (13.3)74.6 (16.9)0.12
Admission type
 Elective6 (7.5%)7 (2.0%)0.03
 Emergency60 (75.0%)281 (81.0%)
 Urgent12 (15.0%)50 (14.4%)
 Same day admits2 (2.5%)2 (0.6%)
 Newborn admission0 (0.0%)7 (2.0%)
Probability of death in hospital
 Median (IQR)0.24 (0.08–0.40)0.31 (0.15–0.48)0.01
Top 10 admitting services
 General medicine24 (30.0%)137 (39.5%)
 Intensive care6 (7.5%)65 (18.7%)
 Oncology18 (22.5%)21 (6.1%)
 General surgery6 (7.5%)15 (4.3%)
 Neurology1 (1.3%)15 (4.3%)
 Radiotherapy4 (5.0%)11 (3.2%)
 Family medicine0 (0.0%)14 (4.0%)
 Malignant Haematology2 (2.5%)12 (3.5%)
 Orthopaedics3 (3.8%)9 (2.6%)
 Respirology2 (2.5%)9 (2.6%)
 Others14 (17.5%)39 (11.2%)
Number of admissions in the last 6 months
 046 (57.5%)220 (63.4%)0.55
 120 (25.0%)72 (20.7%)
 29 (11.3%)27 (7.8%)
>35 (6.3%)28 (8.1%)
Total length of stay (days)
 Median (IQR)15.0 (5.0–31.50)6.0 (2.0–15.0)<0.01