Treatment limitation and advance planning: Hospital-wide audit of paediatric death

Abstract

Aim: To examine paediatric deaths following withdrawal or withholding of medical treatment (WWMT) from a hospital-wide perspective and identify changes over a 10 year period. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records was conducted for all paediatric inpatient deaths at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne from April 2015 to April 2016, and results were compared to 2007 data from our centre. χ2 tests were used for comparisons. Results: A total of 101 deaths occurred in the inpatient setting in 2015–2016. Most deaths followed WWMT (88/101, 87%) and occurred in children with pre-existing chronic conditions (85/101, 85%). There was a shift to earlier discussions with parents regardi..