Preventable deaths prompt call for health resources

An advocacy group is calling on health authorities in the Outaouais to act after recent coroner's reports revealed medical errors may have contributed to the deaths of three patients in the region.

The reports found problems with how the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO) handled the cases.

In one, an 84-year-old man suffered a perforation of the intestine during a colonoscopy in 2016 at the Pontiac Hospital. The problem was caught, but the man refused surgery to correct it and later died.

In another case, a suicidal patient at Pierre-Janet psychiatric hospital killed himself despite being under watch every 15 minutes. The coroner found 40 minutes had elapsed before staff found him

In the third case, a woman's death during childbirth was blamed in part on a lack of adequate training and equipment for caesarean sections.

'We have to be picky'

"These medical procedures are complex, but that doesn't mean the quality of care and support for these patients should be neglected," Action Santé Outaouais president Gaétan Ouellet told Radio-Canada in French. 

Ouellet said the reports point to a worrying trend, and demanded better resources to ensure every patient gets quality care. 

"When it comes to quality of care, we have to be picky," Ouellet said. "What is happening in the Outaouais when our resources are so difficult to maintain?"

The Quebec government denied Radio-Canada's request for an interview, but in a statement said it's left to local health authorities to respond to the coroner's findings.

CISSSO also declined an interview request, but said it's working swiftly to deal with all the coroner's recommendations.