Thread by @PfParks

This is a tragic event, and my heart goes out to the pt's family.


1/14globalnews.ca/news/11590698/…

I cannot speak to any specific details of this tragic event, but I do feel it is very important to state:

there is NO SITUATION where it is normal for a pt to wait >8hrs with severe chest pain if there is ANY meaningful flow in an ED that is functioning as it should be.
2/14

Without severe overcrowding and crushing volumes/acuity, it is a certainty that this pt would have been seen in a more timely fashion... at a min his symptoms could have been treated sooner, even if his underlying disease might have progressed to the same outcome.
3/14

I am positive that severe overcrowding was a major factor in delays to care, and that his prolonged waiting did NOT improve anything in this pt's case.

The institutional response will be to try to blame one single HCW for this tragic outcome...
4/14

"why didn't the nurse get him into a bed sooner? why didn't a doctor see him in the WR? why didn't someone treat his pain?..."

there is no question in my mind that severe and WELL-KNOWN ED overcrowding and system issues were the primary factors in this pt's delay to care
5/14

It bears noting that this occurred in a Covenant Health facility.

The Premier likes to vilify AHS and its teams/leads, but inordinate gridlock and severe overcrowding is an ongoing critical bottleneck regardless of what entity runs the hospital...
6/14

in fact, CH often has WORSE pt Access Metrics than many AHS hospitals, but for some reason govt doesn't make them report to the same standard as AHS.
7/14

Shuffling hospital ownership, while ignoring workforce and capacity planning is going to be meaningless, and more ABs will suffer as the govt continues to neglect meaningful change.
8/14

I would very much like to hear what the CH CEO Patrick Dumelie has to say about the severe overcrowding in his facility that would have contributed to this tragic outcome.

What's his plan to ensure this doesn't happen again?
9/14

I would very much like to hear what the ACA CEO David Diamond has to say about the severe overcrowding in his Edmonton Corridor that would have contributed to this tragic outcome.

What's his plan to ensure this doesn't happen again?
10/14

They owe an explanation to the patient's family, but also to the HC teams that are left high and dry trying to operate in completely untenable and dangerous overcrowding day in and day out.
11/14

Saying the case will become an M.E. case is NOT the same as a system/hospital review to try to learn what contributed to delays, and what could be done to improve care for future pts.
12/14

I hope Albertans will ask the Premier what her clear and cogent plan is to prevent more tragic events like these from occurring in our EDs. (Maybe on her call-in show, where she likes to reassure all is well???)
13/14

I'll close with a plea: let's review this case in the context of the severe system overcrowding, and commit to a real plan and a real fix.

We've had 2.5yrs of endless chaos and change, and everything continues to get worse.
14/14