The Communiqués Podcasts

Based on our October 2018 issue of the Future Leaders Communiqué Volume(3) Issue(4) guest edited by Dr Danielle Panaccio. This podcast is hosted by two medical students, Jacqueline Lim (University of Sydney) and Gweneth Ng (Deakin University), it explores how difficulties in recognising and communicating abnormal results from laboratory and imaging investigations leads to significant patient harm....

Death of a resident from positional asphyxia. Highlights need for better internal emergency incident responses and deploying staff. Editorial Content 01:31 Editorial: Professor Joseph Ibrahim 05:03 Case #1 Get me out by Dar Ray Ooi 16:40 Commentary #1: Advance Care Planning by Barbara Hayes 26:20 Commentary #2: Improving outcomes for residents by Anita Westera 31:05 Special article examining Selec...

Welcome to Episode Nine of our Podcast Series. A preventable death of a six-year-old child is a tragedy. We highlight some of the lessons to be learned from this case, to inform and evolve your clinical practice in timely recognition, and management of sepsis in children. Two expert commentaries address post-splenectomy infections and an approach to the asplenic patient. Editorial Content 01:15 Ed...

Welcome to Episode Eight of the Clinical Communiqué podcast, titled ‘Fall injuries in older adults.’ This podcast is based on the March 2022 edition of the Clinical Communiqué. In this podcast we look at some of the specific challenges clinicians face in assessing older patients following a fall where the extent of injury was not fully appreciated until it was too late. The expert commentary by Dr...

The first issue of Residential Aged Care Communiqué for 2022 focuses on falls and falls management. Every year, over half of all residents will have a fall and some have grave consequences as highlighted by the two cases. Commentaries by two of Australia’s leading international experts explain the practical interventions available to prevent falls. Editorial Content 01:09 Editorial: Professor Jose...

Welcome to Episode Nine of our Podcast Series. This is the second part of a two-part collection featuring material from our January 2022 print edition of the Future Leaders Communiqué. In this second part we provide a collection of commentaries that include frank and honest views from a junior medical doctor and an allied health professional. These are accompanied by an expert commentary recognisi...

Welcome to Episode Eight of our Podcast Series. This is the first part of a two-part collection featuring material from our January 2022 print edition of the Future Leaders Communiqué. A core element of the success in providing the healthcare our patients deserve is "teamwork" – the theme of this two-part podcast. In this first part, we present two case reports reflecting on the importance of comm...

Welcome to Episode Ten of our podcast series. This features material from our November 2021 print edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast focusses on the death of a resident from inadvertent poisoning. The case encompasses the supply and storage of chemical agents, the roles and intersection of the clinical, personal care and domestic staff, as well as the emergency managemen...

Welcome to Episode Seven of the Clinical Communiqué podcast, titled Paediatric Appendicitis. This podcast is based on the September 2021 edition of the Clinical Communiqué. In this podcast episode we look at paediatric appendicitis - the most common cause of acute abdomen in children, and we describe cases where delays in diagnosis and treatment tragically resulted in death. The expert commentary...

Welcome to Episode Seven of our podcast series. This features material from our October 2021 print edition of the Future Leaders Communiqué. This podcast explores the importance of communication, clinician accountability and ethical practice at all stages of the health professional-patient relationship. This is explored through the case of a patient diagnosed with metastatic cancer who died in acu...

Welcome to Episode Nine of our podcast series. This features material from our August 2021 print edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast focusses on harm resulting from failures to listen carefully to family concerns. We present two cases where earlier attention and prompt responses to concerns raised by family may have altered the outcomes. Our expert commentary explains the...

This episode of the Future Leaders Communiqué podcast presents the coroner’s case of Mr A, a 53-year-old man admitted to hospital with severe neck pain who was found dead in his hospital bed three days later. The episode examines two topics central to patient safety: iatrogenic injury, and barriers to escalation of care. The content is based on the July 2021 print edition, guest-edited by Dr Kate...

Welcome to episode six of the Clinical Communiqué podcast, titled 'Access Block'. This podcast is based on the June 2021 edition of the Clinical Communiqué. In this podcast episode we look at the problem of access block, a major barrier to delivering safe and timely care to patients in hospitals. We present four cases that demonstrate how the negative consequences of access block are far-reaching...

Welcome to Episode Eight of our podcast series. This features material from our May 2021 edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast focuses on harm resulting from resident-on-resident interactions. We present two cases where the deaths occurred and an expert commentary which explains the role of Dementia Support Australia, an organisation that provides clinical support in managi...

This podcast of the Future Leaders Communiqué presents a case based on an inquest into the death of a pregnant woman who presented to an emergency department with ‘rib pain’, only to later die of an undiagnosed pulmonary embolism. The content of the podcast is based on our April 2021 print edition, with Dr Vincent Wong as guest editor. In this podcast, we have expert commentaries describing what c...

Welcome to our fifth podcast episode based on the March 2021 edition of the Clinical Communiqué. In this podcast episode we will hear about deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning – a gas produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon-based compounds. Carbon monoxide is often referred to as the ‘silent killer’ because it is colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-irritating, and extremely toxic. Ca...

Welcome to Episode Seven of this podcast series which features material from our February 2021 edition of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué. This podcast focuses on medication safety in aged care homes. We present two cases where the deaths of aged care facility residents were investigated by the Coroners Court. Dr. Huong Nguyen gives us a case precis of a death involving missed doses of antico...

This podcast of the Future Leaders Communiqué presents a case based on an inquest into the death of a young woman from suicide who had present on multiple occasion to different health services seeking help. All to no avail. The content of the podcast is based on our January 2021 print edition which was with Dr Daniel Grose as guest editor. In this podcast we have a contribution from the family and...

This podcast of the Clinical Communiqué features the important issue of clinical handover of patients to primary care. We present two cases where the multiple steps required to safely discharge the patient from hospital to home were inadequate or incomplete, leading to fatal consequences. The content of the podcast is based on our December 2020 print edition of the Clinical Communiqué and includes...

This first part of this podcast of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué Dr Chelsea Baird describes several case reports of COVID19 in older persons highlighting the atypical presentations and challenges of management. The second part of the podcast provides brief summaries of recent important inquiries into the management of COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care. Episode Contents 03:21 minutes Editorial...

This podcast of the Future Leaders Communiqué presents a case based on an inquest into the death of a six-year-old boy from a readily treatable illness due to inadequate documentation, poor communication, and sub-standard care. The content of the podcast is based on our October 2020 print edition with Dr Samantha Walker as guest editor. In this podcast we explore what the quality of clinical docum...

This podcast of the Clinical Communiqué presents four expert commentaries that offer guidance to health care workers on establishing and maintaining psychological safety during the pandemic. Dr Jesse Zanker writes a compelling piece about self-care and recognising vicarious trauma during COVID-19, and Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah astutely outlines the importance of framing personal protective equipmen...

This podcast of the Residential Aged Care Communiqué presents a complex case where a resident was treated with bleach bath. It has multiple dimensions including pain management, an organisations capability in the use of off-script medication and when good intentions lead to harm. Dr Shelly Jeffcott, an expert in human factors psychology explains the importance of building our non-technical skills....

The focus of this Podcast is how health care professionals can provide better care for individuals of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. We present a sobering example of patient harm due to communication failures - the case of Mr AD, a 71 year old man who did not speak English, who died of post-operative complications following discharge from hospital after elective surgery.

In this Podcast we explore two cases where death occurred in secure settings - a correctional facility and a mental health facility. As the details unfolded at inquest, it became apparent that the usual layers of complexity that exist in providing care to patients with multiple physical and mental health co-morbidities in acute hospital settings were magnified.