Negligence? Incompetence? or Even Soviet Russia did it better
Quick rant on Alberta health care. It SUCKS. Over the years we’ve had evidence aplenty to witness delays and incompetence on an unimaginable scale, but the consequences of those events has always been mild. Like the time my cousin broke his thumb, went and spent 7 hours waiting for an x-ray in the emergency room, was sent home and told he’s fine. THREE DAYS later he received a call, telling him his thumb is in fact broken, they read the wrong x-ray and would he please come back for a splint? Needless to say, by then, he was splinted up by his parents who did not trust the initial ‘go home you’re fine’, and with good cause. Or the time my elderly grandma with a broken wrist had her ankles meticulously x-rayed. Or the time my father was given wrong medication. Thankfully none of those mishaps resulted in anything going wrong, it just made for some good anecdotes and head shaking.
This time however, the consequences came perilously close to tragedy. Yesterday morning my brother complained of abdominal pain. By ten AM it was bad enough to go to the hospital with. We all suspected appendicitis, since many in my family had theirs out. He was given morphine for the pain and kept waiting for many hours until they finally operated. He was wheeled into surgery around eleven hours later. His appendix was found ruptured, he had peritonitis, and was in real danger of sepsis (blood poisoning). Now he’s on antibiotics and we only hope he’ll be okay.
Contrast this with my appendix removal which happened when I was six, and in the Soviet Union, no less. I got the sharp pain, within an hour a doctor made a house call. He rolled me over on my left side, gently pressed the abdomen, sharply released, and when I squealed he pronounced ‘appendicitis – get this girl into surgery’. Within two hours I was blood-sampled, prepped and going under. My appedix was removed intact, and my recovery was painful but easy.
The facts are that some people die from appendicitis or related complications each year. Some of them in Calgary. While the mortality rates are only 1-2 per million cases, Calgary hospitals manage a rate that seems much higher, with deaths every few years.
Here’s an excerpt from www.surgeryencyclopedia.com:
“The overall complication rate of appendectomy depends upon the status of the appendix at the time it is removed. If the appendix has not ruptured, the complication rate is only about 3%. However, if the appendix has ruptured, the complication rate rises to almost 59%. Wound infections do occur and are more common if the appendicitis was severe, far advanced, or ruptured. An abscess may also form in the abdomen as a complication of appendicitis.
Occasionally, an appendix will rupture prior to its removal, spilling its contents into the abdominal cavity. Peritonitis or a generalized infection in the abdomen will occur. Treatment of peritonitis as a result of a ruptured appendix includes removal of what remains of the appendix, insertion of drains (rubber tubes that promote the flow of infection inside the abdomen to outside of the body), and antibiotics. Fistula formation (an abnormal connection between the cecum and the skin) rarely occurs. It is only seen if the appendix has a broad attachment to the cecum and the appendicitis is far advanced, causing destruction of the cecum itself.
The complications associated with undiagnosed, misdiagnosised, or delayed diagnosis of appendicitis are very significant. This has led surgeons to perform an appendectomy any time that they feel appendicitis is the diagnosis. Most surgeons feel that in approximately 20% of their patients, a normal appendix will be removed. Rates much lower than this would seem to indicate that the diagnosis of appendicitis was being frequently missed.”
I’m so sorry to hear about your brother and my thoughts are with him for his recovery. The US has very similar problems – studies show that nearly 20,000 people die each year related to medical errors. That’s just the number who die, the number of people who experience infection or injury related to medical errors is closer to 100K. It’s a very frustrating reality!
@Marly – thanks for your kind words. I know the US has similar problems, it’s because people are human. But in medicine the consequences of error are so much higher. So a good system would hire only the best people, set up a system of checks and balances to minimize human error, and get high priority patients served quickly. All of which could be accomplished if paying customers insisted on it, just like any business. The laissez-faire attitude I often see is awful.
Scary, isn’t it? I don’t think we realize how much work our healthcare system needs until we use it for major health issues. I found out just how troubled it is when my father went through his cancer ordeal. The things I saw during those weeks of his illness were alarming. I hate to say it but we Canadians spend more time criticizing the U.S lack of public healthcare rather than focusing on fixing our own problems. Just because you can show up with your health card and walk away without a bill doesn’t make it a fantastic system. If quality care is lacking, it could cost you your life, or the life of a loved one. How much is that worth to you? Our system has a lot of issues that need to be dealt with; the sooner, the better.
I’m sorry about your brother. I wish him a speedy, and full, recovery.
Oooh, I too add my best wishes and prayers for your brother. Please let us know how he’s doing.
However, I have to disagree with your two tier sentiments. To me that only compounds the problem. Even more doctors will be drawn to bigger bucks leaving the doctors that don’t more stressed and stretched thinner. There are no simple solutions but on the surface at least, I think all our essential service providers should be paid like rock stars. Then there would be more incentive to become a doctor (or policeman or teacher, etc …) and less to leave to better paying fields or countries. To support this idea rather than trying to solve the root issues almost creats a “survival of the fittest” society and last I checked, we try to take care of all people, even our poor and vulnerable.
Just a thought …
@Martha – thanks! He did get sepsis, but after spending a few days on crazy antibiotics he is now an outpatient. Yep, I don’t feel like Canada has that much to brag about sometimes. It seems like if the medical problem is non-urgent – you can get pretty good care, although your fathers’ cancer ordeal comment is making me wonder. But in a true emergency the speed is not there, and the bogging down of the bureaucracy is astonishing. I’ve seen it time and time again. I’m sure the people that work in the system are also often frustrated by it.
@Jean – you and I disagree on a number of societal topics. I however, am a big believer in a free market economy, and firmly feel that given a chance, consumers and providers will work out an equilibrium that works for them. I also firmly belive in quality of service, since I DO pay for all the aforementioned cops, teachers and doctors. I also think cops and doctors are okay salary wise, teachers, not so much. And I’m sorry, but I don’t see how as a doctor you would NOT be drawn to better money, that is a non-free market problem, not mine. And until the glaring inefficiencies are addressed, I don’t want to have more of a tax burden for no reason. I’m gonna send you an ebook called ‘Market for Liberty’. It’s not perfect, but gives one food for thought. As far as poor and vulnerable – we are ALL poorer and more vulnerable straining to support a system that is not well.
Appendicitis will need some kind of surgery of you got it to a point where the appendix is near to rupture. Early diagnosis is thus very very important. .:”`,
With appreciation http://www.healthmedicinelab.com“>
In most cases, appendicitis require surgery specially if treatment is not applied at the earlist stage. ^
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