The COVID-19 crisis has both divided and galvanized Canadians on health care. While the last three years have presented new challenges to health-care systems across the country, the pandemic has also exacerbated existing challenges, most notably the high levels of errors and mistreatment documented in Canadian health care.
According to a 2019 report from the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, Canada was already facing a public health crisis prior to the pandemic: a crisis of patient safety. As the report details, patient safety incidents are the third leading cause of death in Canada, following cancer and heart disease.
Few studies calculate national data on this topic, but a 2013 report found that patient safety events resulted in just under 28,000 deaths. Many Canadians who have experienced these errors have shared their experiences with media in an effort to raise awareness and demand change.
The lack of transparency and accountability must be resolved. Patients, families, communities and health care providers at all levels must have a reliable way of knowing the extent of the challenges we are facing — whether that be with respect to the recent pandemic crisis, the decades-old patient safety crisis or the ongoing impact of racism and discrimination in health care across the country.
Read the full article published by McMaster University: Click Here
written by Fiona Macdonald, Allison Kooijman, Carolyn Canfield, Nell Oelke and Robert Robson