Number of patients leaving Quebec emergency departments before being seen on the rise

The number of patients leaving emergency departments before being taken care of is on the rise in Quebec, according to the results of a study by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) published Thursday.

The number of patients leaving emergency departments before being taken care of is on the rise in Quebec, according to the results of a study by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) published Thursday.

In 2023-2024, over a period of approximately 11 months, 3.2 million patients visited Quebec's emergency departments, and 11.5 per cent of them, or 376,460 people, left before receiving medical attention.

By comparison, in 2018-2019, it was just over 10 per cent, or 378,348 patients out of a total of 3.7 million visits.

"One person in two waits more than five hours in the emergency department in Quebec. It's not surprising that many will leave," said study author Emmanuelle B. Faubert.

Patients referred to another health-care professional who can meet their needs are not counted in these data, as they are considered to have been taken into care.

"This is still an increase because the study period in 2023-2024 is 11 months. So we see that in 11 months (...) we have essentially the same number of patients who left the ER before treatment compared to (a period) of one year five years ago," said Faubert. "That's still a problem, considering the increased budgets we're putting into health care and all the reforms we're making every year."

She is particularly concerned about the 103,715 patients in categories P1, P2 and P3, which correspond to the most urgent cases. According to data she obtained from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, 25.3 per cent of Priority 3 patients left the emergency department before receiving medical care, 2.2 per cent of P2 patients and 0.03 per cent of P1 patients.