The NDP is highlighting an element of Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk's 2019 annual report that found overcrowding in Ontario hospitals over the past three years led to 10 deaths of critically ill patients who were waiting for a transfer.
Lysyk's four-volume report, issued Dec. 4, tackled a number of issues related to publically funded services, including 13 value-for-money audits. One of those audits dealt with acute-care hospital patient safety.
On Page 107 of that report, Lysyk examined overcrowing and bed availability, finding that from April 2016 and March 2019, 784 patients who needed a transfer from one hospital to another offering the level of care they need were denied because no beds were available.
All of these patients were critically ill. Over the three years, 10 of these patients died while waiting for a bed.
“Ten people died waiting, because the hospitals they needed didn’t have a bed available,” said NDP Deputy Leader John Vanthof. “No one deserves to die like that. Imagine if that was your life on the line. Imagine if that was someone you love.”
The NDP pointed out that some of these patients were denied a transfer more than once.
