Record-high rates of patients leaving without being seen in Lower Mainland hospitals
CTV
A historically-high percentage of patients are leaving Metro Vancouver emergency departments without being seen by a doctor, another sign of the crisis gripping British Columbia’s hospital system
A historically-high percentage of patients are leaving Metro Vancouver emergency departments without being seen by a doctor, another sign of the crisis gripping British Columbia’s hospital system.
CTV News has obtained statistics from Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health authorities showing that the rate of patients leaving before treatment is double or triple the typical rate of two to 3.5 per cent, with up to one in 10 patients giving up after excessive wait times in the region’s biggest hospitals.
Officials say that typically, most people who leave after being registered but before being seen by a doctor are usually there for minor issues or feel better, but they are concerned that some who need urgent care are walking away without getting it.
“It's really critical,” said Dr. Eric Grafstein, chief medical information officer for VCH and Regional Emergency Department Head. “I think of myself as an in-patient person and the idea of making people wait is terrible.”
Of acute care facilities under his purview, Lions Gate Hospital saw four per cent of patients leave unseen in May (compared to three per cent in January), with seven per cent at St. Paul’s Hospital (six per cent in January) and 10 per cent at Vancouver General Hospital (nine per cent in January).
In Fraser Health, 11 per cent of Abbotsford Regional Hospital patients left unseen in May (versus nine per cent in January), nine per cent at Langley Memorial (seven per cent in January), six per cent at Royal Columbian (three per cent in January) and seven per cent at Surrey Memorial Hospital (nearly five per cent at the start of the year).
Fraser Health’s regional director of emergency medicine pointed out all hospitals across the country are facing soaring wait times amid a staffing crisis magnified by high patient demand.
