by Mori aged 15-18 are three times more likely to die in the 30 days following a major trauma than non-Mori, a report has found.
A watchdog is now calling for health boards to review all cases of major trauma resulting in Mori youth being hospitalised.
The Perioperative Mortality Review Committee (POMRC) report, released on Monday, which compared outcomes for Mori and non-Mori in the 30 days following major trauma.
A report by the Perioperative Mortality Review Committee found Mori youth were three times more likely to die within the first 30 days following major trauma than non-Mori. (File photo)
The committee reviews deaths related to surgery and anaesthesia within 30 days following an operation. It advises the Health Quality and Safety Commission on how to reduce those deaths, and makes recommendations to make surgery safer for patients.
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The report found Mori were 37 per cent more likely than non-Mori not to get an initial CT scan, and were 56 per cent more likely to die in the first 30 days following major trauma that did not involve serious traumatic brain injury (TBI).
The main analysis found no inequities for Mori in overall mortality following major trauma, but inequity was clear among Mori youth, it said.
Dr Dick Ongley, member of the Perioperative Mortality Review Committee, said reviews made by DHBs should consider the role implicit bias and institutional racism play.
This was not explained by differences in sex, time to receive care, helicopter transfer to hospital, whether the injury location was urban or rural, whether the patient received an index CT scan, or whether there was a serious TBI.
Part, but not all, of the inequity in mortality in young people was due to trauma severity, it found.
The committee recommended each of the country’s 20 DHBs conduct an in-depth local review this year of all case of trauma in Mori aged 15-18 years that occurred in 2018-20.
The review should focus on whether treatment was optimal and timely, and what systems and processes need to be improved to provide high-quality and equitable care, the report said.
The committee made a number of recommendations for health boards and agencies, particularly around whether implicit bias and institutional racism play a role in producing these inequities. (File photo)
It also recommended DHBs review all cases of people with serious traumatic brain injury treated at non-neurological centres, focusing on how appropriate and effective decisions about whether to transfer patients were.
Committee member Dr Dick Ongley said the reports recommendations aim to help improve understanding of factors that contribute to inequities in outcomes in the health system.
Ongley said the reviews should consider the role implicit bias and institutional racism play in producing the inequities found in the report.
There is a wide and established body of evidence about how unconscious bias and institutional racism in our health care system impacts Mori, Ongley said.
Our report hopes to help those involved in the sector examine their own systems to improve trauma outcomes for Mori.
It also recommended Te Hononga Whtuki -Motu the National Trauma Network develop a national consensus guideline on prioritising CT scans for trauma cases, to ensure unconscious bias and institutional racism do not result in inequitable health outcomes for Mori.
