Listen to the people on health, PM told

Letters

CJEM 2003;5(2):80

Listen to the people on health, PM told

To the Editor: Quebec Premier Bernard Landry recently discussed the death of Claude Dufresne,¹ a 51-year-old man from Shawinigan who sustained a heart attack but could not be treated in the ED in Shawinigan, which was closed because of a staff shortage. Dufresne was transferred to Trois Rivières, but died en route.

Gaps in the emergency health system are not unique to Quebec. There are other examples in Canada of tragic deaths because of difficulties in emergency health care delivery. Kyle Martin died while waiting in the overcrowded waiting room of the Credit Valley Hospital in suburban Toronto.² Joshua Fleuelling, also of Toronto, died of asthma.³ His transport to hospital was complicated by ambulance diversion.

These were people who looked to the emergency system in their hour of greatest need, and the system, through lack of planning, failed them. As Mr. Landry suggests, Mr. Chrétien should be sensitized by the tragedies his constituents endure. The Prime Minister, in searching for a health care legacy, should commit to a course of action that prevents these tragedies from recurring. Unfortunately, the Romanow and Kirby reports^4,5 barely acknowledge the national crisis in emergency care and offer little in the way of credible solutions. The crisis will not be solved by home care, pharmacare or primary care reform, no matter how important these initiatives ultimately prove to be. Mr. Chrétien should insist that emergency health care is given prominence in all future discussion on health care reform. He should vigorously support a national forum on emergency health care.

Alan Drummond,
MD Perth, Ont.

References

1. Listen to the people on health, PM told. Ottawa Citizen 2003 Jan 27.
2. Report of the Regional Coroner from the inquest into the death of Kyle Martin. Inquest rep no. 9801205. Toronto (ON): Ont Ministry of Health: 1998.
3. Chief Coroner, Province of Ontario. Inquest touching the death of Joshua Fleuelling. Jury verdict and recommendations. Sept-Nov, 2002 (Toronto).
4. Romanow RJ. Building on values: the future of health care in Canada. Saskatoon: Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada; 2002. Available: www.healthcarecommission.ca/
5. Kirby M, chair, Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. Study on the state of the health care system in Canada. 2002. Available: www.oma.org/pcomm/kirby.htm

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