A Comment by Doug Draper
For the better part of a month now, I’ve had growing numbers of readers wondering when Niagara At Large is going to weigh in on the C. difficile outbreak that, as of this June 28, has claimed the lives of 15 patients in Niagara hospitals and counting.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati wants new leadership at NHS
It is a good question, coming from people who are obviously quite concerned about this mysterious, infectious disease and who and where it might strike next, and I have given that question a good deal of thought.
The short answer is that I didn’t see the point in using this site to keep a scorecard on the growing number of deaths from this disease. As tragic as each and every one of those deaths has been for the victim and their loved ones, the mainstream media in the region are doing the death toll stories, if nothing more. It would be far more interesting to find out, if its possible, what the root cause of this outbreak is and whether there is anything about the hospital environment or the quality of care the patients were getting that contributed to their demise. So far as anything I’ve read or heard to date, there are no easy answers to these important questions.
But one thing I have to mention, as I have so many times before on other matters involving the Niagara Health System and its management of so many of our region’s hospital services, is what a terrible job it does when it comes to communicating with the public. So much so that this time out the NHS has politicians like Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor and Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati screaming made over the business of waiting until late on a Friday (June 24) afternoon to issue a brief statement that there were two C. difficile-related deaths at the Niagara Falls hospital site, adding to the deaths at that site and two other hospitals in St. Catharines and Welland.
Of course, by the time members of the media got the late-day statement about those two deaths, there was hardly anyone to call about them because the NHS administrators had gone home for the weekend. If you really want get cynical about it, you could accuse the NHS of using a typical trick when it comes to news it really doesn’t want to deal with publicly – through the information out late on a Friday and rush out of the office before any of those pesky reporters discover it and start calling with questions.
According to an email NHS communications consultant Caroline Bourque-Wiley recently sent to another media outlet in the region, she insisted the NHS has been taking extraordinary measures to be “transparent” with the public about these deaths. “What needs to be emphasized is that there will always be patients with C. difficile in our hospitals and in our communities. It is not common practice for hospitals to report individual deaths directly to the public.”
It may not be the practice of any hospital to report individual deaths to the public. I would not expect a hospital to issue statements every time a patient dies of cancer or respiratory disease for example. But what the point the NHS seems to be missing here is that these deaths, involving some kind of a ‘super bug’, is causing a high level of concern across the region and people and their political representatives are demanding full disclosure of what is going on.
You would almost think that by now, the NHS would be showing media briefings, complete with a question period participated in by the appropriate medical experts, to keep the public up to date on this crisis. Regular media briefings have been used in other circumstances elsewhere and seem to help assure the public that they are getting the proper goods on a matter of concern.
But as those of us who have been following the NHS since its creation a decade ago, this body has never had a very good record of informing or consulting with the public on affairs that impact on hospital services here. No wonder Craitor and Diodati want the current administration swept a size and a new supervisor appointed to manage these vital services.
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Now is the time to get HUDAK to state in detail exactly what he will do for sure with this serious problem – come on TIM lets hear it
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Is the NHS alone among Ontario hospitals in its secrecy and poor communication with the public? Or is it simply following orders?
Here’s a quote taken from the website of the OHA (Ontario Hospital Association) website. (It must have been posted some time in late April or early May, before the final vote on the Budget (Bill 173) —
What are some examples of quality of care information that would be protected if Schedule 15 of Bill 173, the Better Tomorrow for Ontario Act goes through?
Example #1 – Reviews of System Quality Issues
For instance, a hospital with C. difficile rates that are trending higher than the average would want health care professionals to be able to freely, and without reservation, explore why this is happening by reviewing individual practices, any recent changes to their working environment, and other contributing system-level factors. This may involve an independent review by an outside expert or a review of hospital charts and a discussion of their findings.
NOTE: For information explaining Schedule 15, the “hospital secrecy act”, included in the Budget Bill, see my article “The Hospital Secrecy Act Protects the NHS”. Fiona.
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Some causes:
Staff being overloaded causing contact with many patients some of whom may have C. Difficile. Also, due to hectic staff conditions, poor attention to hand washing, etc.
Decrease in cleaning staff causing unclean, if not filthy, environment.
Lack of beds causing people with communicable illnesses to be housed in improper isolation conditions.
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T. Hudak will push for privatization, which will make a bad situation worse.
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Doug Draper – I just feel I need to emphasize that the post I wrote above is not about Tim Hudak. It is about the difficult circumstances Niagara residents face with hospital services in this region. Tim Hudak and his family have just been through a very scary health crisis involving their three year old daughter. How do we know that he does not feel a bond with public health care because of it. I just don’t want anyone to think that my comments are linked to a political or partisan agenda since, as I have always said, I would never belong to a political party that would have me as a member. Doug Draper, Niagara At Large.
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A touch of irony perhaps having a PR Consultant with the surname Wiley, but I digress. The NHS PR machine has had no problems in the past rolling out their agenda until it comes to bad news. The culture of this organization is such that they are incapable of being frank and honest with the public.
This unmitigated arrogance is due wholly to the belief that we are incapable of understanding seemingly complex medical issues and that they are they only ones capable of making decisions about our health services.
The NHS has come under intense scrutiny in the last couple of years because of its poor decisions or perhaps equally its poor decision making processes. The board threw Sevenpiper under the bus assuming that this would appease the public’s growing concerns, but has done nothing to fundamentally change how it conducts its business.
The latest action of re-appointing Paul Leon as NHS Chair confirms this incestuous, dysfunctional body is incapable of change unless mandated from external forces. Its only a matter of time before the NHS Titanic hits the iceberg.
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Politics is politics. If I refer to Mr. Hudak, I’m referring to what he stands for and represents politically, which is what his party represents. It’s not personal.
I offered and continue to offer my sincerest hopes that everything goes well with his family. That is personal,and I wish the best things for the health of his daughter and his family.
Back to politics. Like many others, I deplore what is happening to health care in this country. I have written about it and I stand by my words. Part of the problem is the insinuation of corporate monies into the mix and the ensuing loss of the public voice. While I don’t subscribe to labels, certain parties endorse such a mix, while at least one other doesn’t.
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We can’t blame the mess that is healthcare in Ontario on the private sector. The fact is that no government, of whatever stripe, has been prepared to take on the healthcare bureaucracy. Healthcare in this province is being run by a small group of managers who have everything to lose from increased accountability and transparency: they are the ones with the big six-figure salaries. Their spokespersons will be at the table when the Canada Health Accord is renegotiated. My sense is that morale is at an all-time low, and that most doctors don’t like the status quo any more than their patients. But they have been muzzled, with the connivance of their own College. How do we make common cause with all healthcare workers, so that together we can demand an accountable system?
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Fiona,
I wrote a well-researched commentary on Health Care and privatization – “Toxic Kool Aid…” which details how privatization (like the U.S system) is part of the health care problem. People think there isn’t enough money for a strong public hospital system, but in fact there isn’t enough for a system hamstrung by private monies. An example: from 1975-2009 medicare spending represented from 4% to 5% of Canada’s G.D.P. Costs NOT covered represented 12% of G.D.P .Insurance cos. like to make money :check your dental or any other private health plan that you might have. Tax cuts mean nothing when we have to pay for all of these privatized health services. What will happen when nurses are replaced by less qualified people from the private sector? Diminished quality. More expenses.
Why is the P3 hospital site in west St. Catharines, (a more affluent area)? I speculate that the private monies involved impacted that decision. Why is this “small group of managers” running health care not listening? Again, I would suggest that they are in part hamstrung by their corporate partners in the P3 hospital mix.
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I’ve been fighting privatization for years, Mark. Privatization is NOT the cure; that’s a given. But there is a (?)deliberate attempt to push us there gradually by ignoring the very real problems in the public sector. As for your conclusion about the power elite running hospital services: nope. They’re not hamstrung. They’re running the show, Mark. And they intend to keep running it. Just because people in power are paid (far too much) by public tax dollars doesn’t make them into altruists. Or even honest brokers. We have the right to demand good, accountable, transparent public agencies. Without them, the pro-privatizers start to dominate the debate…
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