The Communiqués Podcasts

Welcome to Episode Thirteen of our podcast series. This features material from our October 2024 print edition of the Future Leaders Communiqué. Our guest editor is Dr Erica Musgrove, a doctor in training at Alice Springs Hospital, who presents a compelling edition highlighting some of the challenges of providing patient care in rural and remote settings. This podcast presents a case from rural Aus...

Welcome to Episode Twenty-two of our podcast series. This features material from our November 2024 print edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast presents two cases highlighting the challenges of facilitating and supervising community access for residential clients. Our expert commentary addresses ‘The influence of the system's design on tragic failures of governance and care’...

Welcome to Episode Twenty-one of our podcast series. This features material from our August 2024 print edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast presents two cases highlighting the poorer outcomes that can occur for older persons following trauma and the how the desired goals of care may influence decision-making in a trauma scenario. Our expert commentary on ‘Trauma Geriatrici...

Welcome to Episode #12 of the Future Leaders Communiqué podcast. In this episode, we review a coroner’s investigation into the unexpected death in hospital of a complex major trauma patient. As the case unfolds, issues around protocols, junior doctor autonomy, and senior supervision within the treating team arise. Episode Contents 01:20 Guest Editorial by Dr Kee Whye Chin 05:17 Editorial by Dr Bre...

Welcome to episode 16 of the Clinical Communiqué, based on the June 2024 edition of the Clinical Communiqué. In this episode we feature two surgical cases that each portray several clinical themes, but at the heart of both is the theme of communication. In their ensuing inquests, the coroners explored how the treating teams communicated with the patient and their family members - where conversatio...

Welcome to Episode Twenty of our podcast series. This features material from our May 2024 print edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast examines particularly challenging aspects of palliative care for persons with dementia, for those who have lost decision-making capacity and terminal sedation. We present two clinical cases that provide contrasting narratives. Our expert comm...

Welcome to Episode 15 of the Clinical Communiqué Podcast, based on the March 2024 print edition of the Clinical Communiqué. In this podcast episode the two cases demonstrate two main risk profiles in older drivers – the driving risks when a patient is bodily capable but easily disorientated, and the driving risks when a patient is mentally sharp but physically slow. Episode Contents 01:20 Editoria...

Welcome to Episode Nineteen of our podcast series. This features material from our February 2024 print edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. In this episode we examine the case of a resident who died due to being administered a medication to which he had a known allergy. The case highlights lessons about how we gather and evaluation information. Our expert commentator is Dr Natali Jokan...

Welcome to Episode Fourteen of our podcast series. This features material from our December 2023 print edition of the Clinical Communiqué. This podcast presents key learnings from the coroner’s inquest into the 2016 thunderstorm asthma event in Melbourne in which ten patients tragically lost their lives. We reflect on the terrifying rapidity with which their conditions changed from mildly short of...

Welcome to Episode Thirteen of our podcast series. This features material from our September 2023 print edition of the Clinical Communiqué. This podcast presents the lessons to be learned by examining the failure to hear the concerns of those that should be at the centre of every health care interaction. We present two cases where the patient's families told the coroners that they had not been lis...

Welcome to Episode Eighteen of our podcast series. This features material from our November 2023 print edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast presents the lessons to be learned by examining pre-existing circumstances that contributed to two patients’ falls that caused their deaths. A common underlying factor was timeliness of care. Episode Contents 00:45 Editorial 06:22 Case...

Welcome to Episode Seventeen of our podcast series. This features material from our August 2023 print edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast presents the lessons to be learned from the premature deaths of residents due to suboptimal management of diabetes mellitus. Episode Contents 01:10 Editorial 03:51 Case #1 I am fine 14:34 Case #2 An old drug and a known complication 21:...

This podcast episode presents the results of the investigation into the premature death of a resident who had a fall from a runaway wheelchair. The three commentaries draw on clinical and research experts to address how to balance improving mobility with a wheelchair while mitigating potential harm. We also welcome a new narrator Ashleigh Redmond who is a practising registered nurse and actor.&nbs...

In this episode we feature two cases of worsening upper airway swelling leading to fatal airway obstruction following routine extubation of patients after surgery. Despite many advances in airway management, extubation-related incidents have not reduced. The cases highlight the actions leading to the loss of airway protection, a failure to recognise the severity of the situation, and an inability...

Escaping, absconding, unexplained absences lead to death. The investigation into a resident’s unexplained absence determined the cause of death as hypothermia secondary to becoming lost in surrounding bushlands. The inquest findings are presented along with expert commentary around how to prevent unexplained absences. This is Episode Fifteen of our podcast series and features material from our Feb...

In partnership with First Nations Peoples from clinical, education, design, and consumer advocacy backgrounds, this critical edition of the Clinical Communique presents two coroners' cases where a lack of cultural safety in the health care system led to preventable and tragic consequences. Special thanks to Mr Olli Wynyard Gonfond who narrated this episode, and Dr Jordana Stanford for her guest ap...

Welcome to Episode #11 of the Future Leaders Communiqué podcast. In this episode, we present a thought-provoking summary of the events leading to the tragic death of JL, a 69-year-old woman recovering from an elective neurosurgical operation. We reflect on the challenges faced by junior doctors engaging in locum work and the chain of communication in medical imaging reports. Episode Contents 01:05...

The investigations into the deaths of two residents from choking on food are described. Two experts address the challenges of managing the impact of dementia on residents’ ability to eat, as well as, staff managing ethical decision about cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This is Episode Fourteen of our podcast series and features material from our November 2022 print edition of the Residential Aged C...

Two deaths due to head trauma related to use of a mechanical hoist and a lift chair could happen in any aged care home. The lessons for improving practice go beyond the actual cases as illustrated by the accompanying reflective exercises. Commentaries provide insights into recall bias, quality improvement rounds, cognitive testing and parallels with motorised mobility scooters. Episode Contents 01...

This episode draws on the September 2022 edition of the Clinical Communiqué and features two cases that describe alarm fatigue and the failure to escalate care. We look at technology and decision-making tools and explore how while they can be used to support clinical processes, there are inherent risks with the loss of critical thinking. Episode Contents 01:32 Editorial by Associate Professor Nico...

Welcome to Episode #10 of the Future Leaders Communiqué podcast. In this episode, we reflect on the journey of a complex patient as they transition from an Intensive Care Unit to ward-based care. A breakdown in communication during this transition is the first in a cascade of events that ultimately ends in the patient’s death. In the episode we explore relevant issues in the management of critical...

Welcome to Episode Nine of the Clinical Communiqué podcast, titled ’20 Years of Patient Safety.’ This podcast is split into three parts and is based on the June 2022 edition of the Clinical Communiqué. This three-part podcast episode showcases a unique collection of expert commentaries about patient safety, featuring some of the most remarkable experts from the fields of medicine, law, ethics, and...

Welcome to Episode Nine of the Clinical Communiqué podcast, titled ’20 Years of Patient Safety.’ This podcast is split into three parts and is based on the June 2022 edition of the Clinical Communiqué. This three-part podcast episode showcases a unique collection of expert commentaries about patient safety, featuring some of the most remarkable experts from the fields of medicine, law, ethics, and...

Welcome to Episode Nine of the Clinical Communiqué podcast, titled ’20 Years of Patient Safety.’ This podcast is split into three parts and is based on the June 2022 edition of the Clinical Communiqué. This three-part podcast episode showcases a unique collection of expert commentaries about patient safety, featuring some of the most remarkable experts from the fields of medicine, law, ethics, and...

Based on our October 2016 issue of the Future Leaders Communiqué Volume(1) Issue(1) guest edited by Dr Nick Lonergan. This podcast hosted by medical student, Dalyia Abu-Ghazaleh (Griffith University), explores how unquestioning adherence to medical protocols could lead to patient harm. Read the print edition for the detailed case report of the death of a patient that occurred in part, due to the s...