Half of hospitals don't meet surgery standard

Nearly half of the hospitals that perform stomach, esophagus, prostate, or bladder surgery did not meet the standard last year.36 of the 78 hospitals that performed one or more of these procedures did not meet the standard of the minimum number of surgeries, is the outcome of a study by RTL News. It concerns procedures in which the stomach, esophagus, prostate or bladder is removed, stomach reductions or interventions due to a dilated abdominal aorta.

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A hospital must perform procedures of removal of the prostate gland or the esophagus or stomach operations because of a dilated artery at least twenty times per year. For bladder and stomach removal the norm is at least ten and stomach reductions one hundred.

Patients undergoing surgery in a hospital where such intervention is not done often enough, run a greater risk of complications like bleeding, admission to intensive care and death.

In a response to RTL, the Minister of Health, Edith Schippers (VVD) announced that hospitals that did not meet the standard last year and can not prove they will this year, should stop performing these procedures.

Most hospitals heed the call of the minister, but thirteen continue their practices, according to the news section. They blame the shortcoming on a temporary dip or say they are still trying to catch up, where possible through referrals from other hospitals.