Hospital errors cause thousands of deaths: report

[Miss T]

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/05/24...h_errors040524

TORONTO - Thousands of Canadians die every year because of mistakes in their treatment at hospitals, a new study shows.

About 185,000 patients suffer an accident in surgery or a medical oversight every year, 40 per cent of which are preventable, according to the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The complications could result in disabilities or longer hospital stays. The study shows that between 9,000 and 24,000 patients die because of those errors.

Researchers looked at 3,745 hospital charts for patients in 25 hospitals in five provinces during 2000.

They found 858 patients had suffered 1,133 injuries or complications. Of those, 15 patients were left permanently disabled and 40 died.

"We found that surgical-related events and medication-related events were the two most common types of adverse events," said Dr.Ross Baker, one of the study's authors. "I think that's typical of many hospitals, so the question I would have (is): What are we doing in hospitals to focus in those areas to improve care?"

The adverse events found include:

Delayed diagnosis of cancer.
Delayed diagnosis of heart disease.
Drug overdose.
Inadequate or faulty equipment.
Communication errors.
Patients discharged too soon.
Surgical errors, such as damaging other organs or removing wrong organs.
Older patients are more likely to suffer adverse events, probably because they have more complicated medical needs, researchers say.
The key to improving the situation is in changing the culture of finger-pointing when something goes wrong, say health care professionals.

"The days of blame and shame need to be replaced by a curiosity to understand why these issues happen and a willingness to put in place processes and procedures that will deal with things in our environment that are risky for our patients," said Anne McGuire, CEO of the Annapolis Health District in Nova Scotia.

Written by CBC News Online staff

YIKES

[crookedking]

just one of those Times when saying, "sorry, i made a mistake." just doesn't cut it.

[mugsy]

royal columbian hospital almost killed my dad twice.
1.) sent him home with a deadly infection
2.) at about 5:30\6 am after going from one hospital and rushing him to another we get to royal columbian, and find out he needs life saving surgery. they tell my mom here is the contract to sign to say YES to giving blood if needed during surgery ... it was the wrong one, it was the no contract. our regualr gp came at about 7:30 in the middle of the surgery and saw the mistake and ran around fixing it for us. granted my moms fault for not reading through all the papers but at 6 in the morning, and you husbands extremely ill, you trust what the nurse says when she hands you something to sign.

but i have had countless good\great experiences at that hospital.

[Goat]

Instead of blaming the nurses, doctors and staff for incidents such as this, take a look at the overall health care system.
For years federal and provincial governments have been eliminating resources, financial and material.
In theory, by eliminating positions that deal with particular problems the issue,supposedly, disapears.
In practice, the more jobs and resources are eliminated the more the system gets backed up, the more overall deterioration of the healthcare system becomes visible.

Let's look at it from another point of view, lets look at some facts: In the last 2 years 6000 positions have been eliminated within the healthcare community. Doctors and Nurses generally work 4 days on 4 days off, 12 hour shifts, usually picking up 2-3 extra shifts during their time off if understaffed.
ex: at Langley Memorial Hospital emergency department there are 22 stretchers available, they have room for 33 people. 1 doctor and 4 nurses are available during the night shift (730pm - 730am). In critical situations nurse to patient ratios can be anywhere from 1 nurse/patient to 2 nurses and a doctor/patient ratio. In critical but non life threatening situations, ideally, there should be 1 nurse/4-6 patients.

Do the math, it doesn't add up.


Are you genuinely surprised when you go into an emergency room to wait 3-8 hours to be seen for a non-critical injury?
Next time you're in there, look around and use your head, why does it take so long to be treated?
Why are there so few people working? What resources are goingn to be needed to help your specific needs? What resources,material and manpower, are going to be required in treating someone with a more serious position then yourself. etc

Another way to look at it, at least here in Canada we have a system of healthcare that provides service to everyone, regardless of social status, wealth, etc.

It sucks accidents happen. Being understaffed and over-worked, it's not surprising that it does. What is surprising, is that it doesn't happen with more regularity.

If you're of legal age, you should be aware of the election coming up on the 28th of June. Pay attention to the issues surrounding you, aside from the left/right wing media hog wash fed to you.
YOU are responsible for righting a lacking system.

[mugsy]

^ from my experience it wasnt from under staffing, it was due to paper work mistakes, and human error.

but i do agree that there are alot of holes in the medical system. i recall waiting with someone who was in severe pain from a burn, having one nurse on staff that night that left me to irregate the burn, and it realy wasnt her fault, she had an emergency room of other people to care for. and the doctor didnt come for about 2 hours.

i think sometimes its hard to believe that doctors\nurses\medical staff are but human, and they too make errors. its just that their errors are more definate, and affect more people.

[miss.myra]

My dr still can't figure out what's wrong with me, occasinally i just get poked with needles or get told to write down everything I eat


i've dubbed it 'mystery disease', but it's seriously gotten my dr. baffled, and other specialsts too, so I don't blame them...luckily it hasn't been bothering me too much as of late.

I sympathize with mugsy's point, that they are only human. A nurse to me is one of the most admirable professions out there, and I have immense respect for what they do.

[miss belle]

when i was in the hospital a couple months back, one of the nurses in the family birthing unit at surrey memorial injected an antibiotic into my vein for something i didn't have. turned out a bunch of my cousin's shit was in my chart. luckily everything worked out alright in the end but i was really pissed off because i hate needles and it hurt like a mother fucker.

[Ree Fresh]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

My dr still can't figure out what's wrong with me, occasinally i just get poked with needles or get told to write down everything I eat


i've dubbed it 'mystery disease', but it's seriously gotten my dr. baffled, and other specialsts too, so I don't blame them...luckily it hasn't been bothering me too much as of late.

I sympathize with mugsy's point, that they are only human. A nurse to me is one of the most admirable professions out there, and I have immense respect for what they do.

I dont really want to make this a complaint... but so many times ive gone to dr's about a problem and they shrug their shoulders at me? I know your only human but you are a Dr? I understand Dr's arnt gods or know it alls to evrything... but It really confuses me when Dr's appear clueless even about the littlest things?

Anywas on a happyer note... I appreciate nurses very much soo too. Remindes me of my grandad who always left a cake/treats for the nurses every time he left cus most of them are the sweetest things :)
And I can relate working with children where you work so hard based on your own good will and caring'ness.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Goat

Instead of blaming the nurses, doctors and staff for incidents such as this, take a look at the overall health care system.
For years federal and provincial governments have been eliminating resources, financial and material.
In theory, by eliminating positions that deal with particular problems the issue,supposedly, disapears.
In practice, the more jobs and resources are eliminated the more the system gets backed up, the more overall deterioration of the healthcare system becomes visible.

Let's look at it from another point of view, lets look at some facts: In the last 2 years 6000 positions have been eliminated within the healthcare community. Doctors and Nurses generally work 4 days on 4 days off, 12 hour shifts, usually picking up 2-3 extra shifts during their time off if understaffed.
ex: at Langley Memorial Hospital emergency department there are 22 stretchers available, they have room for 33 people. 1 doctor and 4 nurses are available during the night shift (730pm - 730am). In critical situations nurse to patient ratios can be anywhere from 1 nurse/patient to 2 nurses and a doctor/patient ratio. In critical but non life threatening situations, ideally, there should be 1 nurse/4-6 patients.

Do the math, it doesn't add up.


Are you genuinely surprised when you go into an emergency room to wait 3-8 hours to be seen for a non-critical injury?
Next time you're in there, look around and use your head, why does it take so long to be treated?
Why are there so few people working? What resources are goingn to be needed to help your specific needs? What resources,material and manpower, are going to be required in treating someone with a more serious position then yourself. etc

Another way to look at it, at least here in Canada we have a system of healthcare that provides service to everyone, regardless of social status, wealth, etc.

It sucks accidents happen. Being understaffed and over-worked, it's not surprising that it does. What is surprising, is that it doesn't happen with more regularity.

If you're of legal age, you should be aware of the election coming up on the 28th of June. Pay attention to the issues surrounding you, aside from the left/right wing media hog wash fed to you.
YOU are responsible for righting a lacking system.

its not money...people make mistakes..its just in that field..mistakes are costly

[Goat]

i never said it was $$

[Miss T]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

My dr still can't figure out what's wrong with me, occasinally i just get poked with needles or get told to write down everything I eat

i've dubbed it 'mystery disease', but it's seriously gotten my dr. baffled, and other specialsts too, so I don't blame them...luckily it hasn't been bothering me too much as of late.

i know how you feel, but on a smaller scale. i got very ill in december and the emergency room doctors nor my family doctor could figure out what was wrong with me. luckily the medication they gave me helped. but it was scary cuz nobody could tell me what was wrong.

[shorerider]

If we were to take better care of our bodies, we would not need to be treated so much, take so many drugs and spend so much time in hospitals. More vegetables and excercise would mean less time in hospitals/visiting doctors, which would mean less stress on the health care system which would mean it wouldn't suck ass much ass which would mean less taxes. It's not fucking rocket science.

[Goat]

http://www.fnk.ca/board/showthread.php?t=49578

^explains how fat people fuel the economy

[Miss T]

^^

but you've been sick before. haven't you?

[Goat]

many times. i was in for surgery on tuesday actually.

[Miss T]

^^

sorry, that was meant for shorerider.

[mugsy]

Originally Posted by shorerider

If we were to take better care of our bodies, we would not need to be treated so much, take so many drugs and spend so much time in hospitals. More vegetables and excercise would mean less time in hospitals/visiting doctors, which would mean less stress on the health care system which would mean it wouldn't suck ass much ass which would mean less taxes. It's not fucking rocket science.

people cant prevent cancer, especailly when it is in your genes.
even healthy people get heart desease.
and yes healthy people can also get things like flesh eating desease, meningitous, ect.
and what about athletes and all their physical problems like broken bones, torn muscles and so on?

a healthy diet\lifestyle doesnt neccessarily add up to a healthy person who doesnt need care.

[neoh]

HI EVERYBODY!
HI DR. NICK!

[shorerider]

Originally Posted by mugsy

people cant prevent cancer, especailly when it is in your genes.
even healthy people get heart desease.
and yes healthy people can also get things like flesh eating desease, meningitous, ect.
and what about athletes and all their physical problems like broken bones, torn muscles and so on?

a healthy diet\lifestyle doesnt neccessarily add up to a healthy person who doesnt need care.

Cancer is becoming more and more a result of environmental factors than genes, IMO.
We can all sit around being paranoid about the latest super bug or we can lead or lives. That simple. You could get hit by a train, stabbed, catch SARS or get shit on by a bird and get fucking Avian influenza.

What about atheletes? I used to be a proffesional one, and now i am what you call an "extreme" athelete. Sure, we get hurt. Part of the territory. I am not suggesting everyone goes out and does the craziest sport they can find, I am talking about shutting off the Xbox, putting the jumbo big gulp down and going for a walk. Rollerblading around the seawall. Hiking. Biking to work. ANYTHING. It's pretty hard to hurt yourself with those activities. Fuck we're the second fattest nation in the WORLD, next to the US. Our children are fat fuckers with diabetes, imagine what their problems will be like in 10 years! I'm disgraced by my countrymen when I walk down the street. It's apalling. And it all comes at the cost of your tax dollars and their health. People are always pointing fingers at the government saying that health care is in shambles whilst sitting there eating cheesie poofs, smoking and swilling a 7UP.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by shorerider

Cancer is becoming more and more a result of environmental factors than genes, IMO.
We can all sit around being paranoid about the latest super bug or we can lead or lives. That simple. You could get hit by a train, stabbed, catch SARS or get shit on by a bird and get fucking Avian influenza.

What about atheletes? I used to be a proffesional one, and now i am what you call an "extreme" athelete. Sure, we get hurt. Part of the territory. I am not suggesting everyone goes out and does the craziest sport they can find, I am talking about shutting off the Xbox, putting the jumbo big gulp down and going for a walk. Rollerblading around the seawall. Hiking. Biking to work. ANYTHING. It's pretty hard to hurt yourself with those activities. Fuck we're the second fattest nation in the WORLD, next to the US. Our children are fat fuckers with diabetes, imagine what their problems will be like in 10 years! I'm disgraced by my countrymen when I walk down the street. It's apalling. And it all comes at the cost of your tax dollars and their health. People are always pointing fingers at the government saying that health care is in shambles whilst sitting there eating cheesie poofs, smoking and swilling a 7UP.

ive have studied health care policy quite a bit in school and in my own freetime and ive found that its not really old people, athletes/others who suffer accidents and even unhealthy fat people arent really the biggest burden on the healthcare system in terms of the healthcare resources they consume. The people who consume the most health resources are people who are born with congenital birth defects, like people with downsyndrome, or who suffer long term chronic illnesses like MS, cerbral palsy, parkinsons, HIV, diabetes(which is lifestyle related in many cases) or have been permantly crippled. Its long term non curable illnesses that are the biggest drain, because alot of the people who suffer from heart diease dont know it until it kills them.

[shorerider]

Good points, but that's still no excuse to rush out and buy a Big Mac Meal, right? They might not be that big a burden on the system, but that's still no reason to be lethargic.

What's really going to fuck things up is when all the boomers start to get sick and die, there are a lot of them...

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by shorerider

Good points, but that's still no excuse to rush out and buy a Big Mac Meal, right? They might not be that big a burden on the system, but that's still no reason to be lethargic.

What's really going to fuck things up is when all the boomers start to get sick and die, there are a lot of them...

thats part of the reason we have all this "health care crisis(i personally think its hyperbole)" bullshit going on. the thing is an aging population isnt necessarily a drain on the healthcare system, because when you only consider medical treatments that are deemed medically necessary, older people only consume marginally more healthcare resources then younger people. The problem is there is an incredibly high level of innovation when it comes to the development of new medical technologies, which is great but the downside to this is that it also gives us alot more different ways to spend are healthcare resources. Its really important to note that most of the controversy around long wait lists in the healthcare system is in relation to treatments that arent medically necessary(for the survival of a patient) treatments like hip and cornea replacements, these are new developments, 10-15 years ago these treatments didnt really exist, and the thing is over time the criteria used by health professionals to designate which patients could use these treatments has been consistantly relaxed. as a result doctors are creating a demand for healthcare services(one that arguably could be artificialy high) and due to an asymetry of knowledge about these medical treatments its likely that a patient will follow the recommendations of the doctor because obviosuly the doctor knows more about the treatment then the patient does. Also the people who qualify for these treatments are in the same age cohort that many of the bby boomers are now entering, so this is where alot of the problem with the healthcare system stems from. In the past ailments like poor eyesight, arthritic joints and others commonly associated with the process of aging lacked treatment, so they would go untreated, but now we have a health industry that is creating treaments that address these ailemtns so there we are creating extra demand for a health care system that is not only a result of a change in demographics but also a change in medical technology and patterns of treatment/diagnoses.

this is just but one cause of the supposed "health care crisis." theres just so many factors that are contributing to alot of the problems that the media sensationalizes. the sad thing is that many canadians have a very viscerial reaction to any talk about healthcare reform that isnt simply more funding. its a problem because theres fundamental problems with the healthcare system that can be addressed without endangering the publicaly funded universal access dfacet of healthcare, but these solutions are rarely considered because no one has the intestinal fortitude to make the necessary changes.


p.s thanks for the karma, hehe.

[mugsy]

Originally Posted by shorerider

Cancer is becoming more and more a result of environmental factors than genes, IMO.

not quite, the doctors have said that cancer is genetic in my fathers side of the familty since three generations have had it. and even though my brother and i have no cancer, they say we are at a higher risk then the average person.
and yes some forms of cancer are environmental,ect like sun cancer, and i personaly do my best to avoid sunburn and excessive times in direct sun shine.

anyways, i agree with some of your points, and i agree alot with sean. there are shit loads of more treatments out there, and plenty of new treatments still in the experimental stages that cost alot of money.
desease is just as likely to happen in young people as it is in older people, younger people just tend to be stronger\have an easier more successful fight against the desease (dependant on what it is)

anywho, back to the origional post, having experienced hospital mistakes\administrative mistakes first hand, and in a bad way, i in some ways feel angry and upset, however i can also see the other side. nurses and doctors are but human, they make mistakes, and it can be awful horrible mistakes, but they still happen. until we become super humans that never fuck up\make a mistake or forget to cross our t's and dot our i's, mistakes will happen.

[shorerider]

What I meant to say about cancer and what not is that all these petro chemicals, soaps, detergents, toothpastes, pesticides, chlorine in our water, lack of vitamins in our diet, Big Macs, anti persperants, bleach strips for our teeth and all that shit can't be doing us any favours, I wouldn't be surprised if these things are carcineogenic. It's quite scary when you think about all of the shit we subject our bodies to...

I think the problem with all of these treatments is that they are reactive rather than pro active, instead of prevention we focus on the cure.

[Hot Karl]

my friend's dad recently had routine back surgery. shortly after his surgery my friend's dad was taken to the hospital with extreme back pain. and they sent him home. next day, he was in even more pain, and they sent him home. the 3rd day, he shit and piss himself because of the pain and they sent for a specialist.

the specialist starts yelling "why didn't you guys call me after the 1st day?"
(an infection in his spine is the problem now)
my friend's dad goes into surgery. they fuck up. 3 times. as in 4 different surgeries all together. now, due to a combination of the stalling and surgical screw-ups, he has to re-learn to walk. he's only 60ish, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

so this article isn't really that shocking for me.