More than 1,400 patients died in the hubbub of hospital emergency rooms last year for lack of available beds on a floor, a 28% increase that raises outrage.
“It’s appalling, reacts Paul Brunet, president of the Council for the protection of the sick. I didn’t think there were so many. »
No less than 1,437 patients died in Quebec emergency rooms in 2020-2021, when they had been there for more than 12 hours, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). Half of the deceased people had even been there for more than 24 hours.
This is an increase of 28% compared to the previous year, and also the worst result of the last five years. The people who died were on average 72 years old.
Considering that Quebec emergency rooms have experienced a drop in visitors with the pandemic, the proportion of deaths is also on the rise.
“Humanly, I find that really questionable”, admits the DD Élyse Berger-Pelletier, an emergency physician at the Lévis hospital who recently became interested in these statistics while working for the MSSS.
Fragile network
“It’s not worthy, believes Mr. Brunet. We have a pretty fragile network, and that’s another terrible example. »
The Journal has chosen to only present data for deaths after 12 hours in the emergency room. Before that, all kinds of imponderables can explain the death, said several doctors.
“After 12 hours, we see it coming that things are not going well. We have time to make a decision, assures the DD Berger-Pelletier. Access to beds is made gangrenous, even people on the point of death no longer have access! »
Of course, the first wave of COVID-19, in the spring of 2020, was difficult. Several patients even died alone, without their families.
“Getting a patient upstairs is not always easy, admits the DD Judy Morris, president of the Quebec Association of Emergency Physicians. You have to wait for the COVID status, there is so much rigidity to protect everyone… Sometimes it took a long time. »
“And unfortunately, the emergency staff are less caring than the palliative care staff,” she adds.
When no bed is accessible and the patient is on the verge of death, the teams try to find a quiet corner.
“We try to have a closed, more intimate cubicle. But there are hospitals that don’t have that, where it’s half all wrong, ”admits the DD Berger-Pelletier.
Quality of care
Note that emergency deaths are reviewed internally to ensure protocols have been followed. Despite this, the DD Berger-Pelletier questions the quality of care.
“Is there a way to do this more dignified? […] Culturally, it is deteriorating, from year to year. With the shortage of staff, it seems that it is even more acceptable to leave patients in the emergency room. »
For its part, the MSSS says it cannot link the increase in deaths to the pandemic, that “only a scientific study could confirm or invalidate this hypothesis”, we write.
Moreover, the data for the current year does not bode well, since the fifth wave of the pandemic has not yet been compiled.
2021-2022* – 1125
2020-2021 – 1437
2019-2020 – 1126
2018-2019 – 1022
2017-2018 – 912
2016-2017 – 1150
Editor’s note Patients dead after at least 12 hours in the emergency room, often on a stretcher.
*Current year, data from April to December 2021
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com