Preventable deaths at Gatineau hospitals blamed on lack of 'rigour'

Responding to an investigative newspaper report showing theGatineau and Hull hospitals lead Quebec in deaths caused by medical error, the regional health authority is blaming what it calls a lack of "rigour" at the two facilities.

• Devastated family of Christian Provencher seeks answers in 19-year-old's sudden death
• Senior died after nurses gave him another patient's medication, report finds
• Go to Ontario for care, Outaouais union tells patients

On Monday, La Presse revealed the Gatineau Hospital leads all hospitals in the province in the number of deaths determined by provincial coroners to have been caused by medical error, with 34 over the last decade.

The French-languagenewspaper's analysis of 900 coroners' reports from1998 to 2018 also found 15 deaths at the Hull Hospital that could have been avoided.

On Tuesday, the CEO of the Centre intgr de sant et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO),Jose Filion, blamed those results onsloppiness by staff at the two hospitals.

"I think there is an absence of controls, of rigour ... a lack, perhaps, of consequences.Not all people are sloppy in their practice, but how precisely we intervene with people who are [needs to be addressed]," Filion said in French.

Patient left untreated 3 days

The spokesperson for patient advocacy group Action Sant Outaouais said the problem at the hospitals is not a lack of professionalism or resources, but the attitudes of the doctors there.

"It's not a question of competence, it's a question of attitude, about whether you're interested in your patients or whether you're not," the group's Denis Marcheterresaid in French.

Take the case of truck mechanic Tyler Simard: In 2011, Simardwent to the Hull Hospital suffering from acute pancreatitis. He was given a bed, but was never issued a hospital bracelet or medical chart.Told a specialist was coming to see him, Simard stayed in bed, still wearing the street clothes he'd arrived in, for three days.

After three days of waiting in vain, Simard approached hospital staff and told them he was leaving.They objected and told him if he left, he would lose his priority.

"I said, 'If you can tell me who I am and what I'm here for, [I'll stay].I have no wristband identifying who I am, I'm in regular blue jeans and a T-shirt. You couldn't even tell me if I was a patient or not.'"

Simard left and was admitted to hospital in Ottawa, where within hours he underwent surgery.

Filion defended changes she's made to CISSSO since taking over from Jean Hbert, who was fired in February.

On Tuesday, she announced four new priorities for the health authority, including "continuous improvement."