The thorny issue of medical imaging technologists may be a thing of the past – at least temporarily – but the crisis shaking the health system in Outaouais is still a sort of volcano ready to erupt at any moment, deplores Dr. Peter Bonneville, president of the Council of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists of the Outaouais Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSSO), who is once again sounding the alarm.
A few days before the fifth anniversary of the unanimous adoption by the National Assembly of a motion recognizing the “important particularities” of the region and its historic underfunding in health, education and culture, the emergency doctor delivers a plea in an open letter published by The Law by affirming that we continue to be “neglected” and that we must admit that “the cavalry will not be there”.
“Five years ago, we made this motion and I was one of the naive people who said to myself: we now have a government that will do something for the Outaouais. Five years later, there is absolutely nothing on the horizon, except the promise of a new hospital in 10 years, he says. The world continues to suffer, to die.”
Play a game for statistics
Affirming that he could “feed” the media by constantly telling them real-life stories until next summer, Dr. Bonneville describes in his story a situation that occurred in September at the Gatineau Hospital to illustrate the fragility of the network but above all the fact “that we must play the game to do everything we can to improve the statistics.
Last month, while he was acting as emergency coordinator, Dr. Bonneville said that a newly centenarian woman arrived at the hospital overnight with great breathing difficulties, so much so that “a consensus was “It was quickly established between his family and caregivers that all efforts would be made to minimize his suffering.”
The situation that Dr. Bonneville describes to illustrate the difficult situation in which the regional health network is found occurred at the beginning of September in the emergency room of the Gatineau Hospital. (Simon Séguin-Bertrand/Archives Le Droit)
In the morning, while he takes charge of the case and calls on a palliative care doctor colleague because the woman’s death is imminent, the latter is disturbed and informs him that we – referring here to the administration – would have demanded that the patient be transferred to a bed on the floors under the sole pretext that a bed was available.
However, she and her loved ones are installed in a large cubicle where everyone is comfortable and satisfied, under the circumstances. One of the “rare places in the emergency room which is the equivalent of a private room”, he describes, so much so that the family did not want, rightly according to him, for the dying lady to be moved. It could have been 100 or 200, but one thing was certain, it was a matter of minutes before she died, he says.
The elevator
Disagreeing with the request, Dr. Bonneville informed the team leader nurse – with whom he has had a very good relationship for several years, he wishes to point out – that the scenario was illogical and the latter explained that she would easily justify the decision to managers.
But this case is very revealing and the simple fact that we first took such a “purely administrative” decision says a lot about the state of the network in Outaouais, according to the president of the CMDP.
The lady finally took her last breath… 25 minutes later.
“For me, it is very significant, because it would have been necessary [si elle avait été déménagée] prepare your file, your personal effects, etc. So she could have died in the elevator, which is a lack of human dignity. I don’t blame one person or another, but at the end of the day, what’s annoying is that in Outaouais we have to make these decisions that we shouldn’t have to make, except that “because we don’t have enough staff in the emergency room and on the floors, we have poor statistics.”
— Dr. Peter Bonneville, president of the Council of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists of the Outaouais Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSSO)
Above all, we must not lose sight of the fact that there are humans behind the figures, he insists, specifying that he has questioned the president and CEO of the CISSSO, Dr. Marc Bilodeau, about this specific case.
“He listened attentively and I let him know that I was saddened that we had reached this point, namely that we must try to dehumanize care in order to have better statistics,” explains he.
Five years ago, the National Assembly unanimously adopted a motion recognizing the underfunding of the Outaouais region in terms of health, education and culture. (Archives/Archives)
The emergency doctor affirms that the principle of bringing patients into rooms on the upper floors is “entirely laudable” in general but that common sense must be used.
“I have no problem with this principle, but the principle [actuellement] is that we just shoot arrows everywhere and there is no reflection, we don’t wonder if it holds water,” he laments.
Open the eyes of the public and elected officials
Peter Bonneville maintains that the objective behind the letter he wrote in recent days is to give a concrete example of the reality facing health professionals in the region, signaling that this is “only the tip of the iceberg.
“It also highlights the fact that the government has a mandate to ensure that all people in Quebec have the right to the same health care and services but that at the moment, Outaouais does not have the right return on the money we give, he explains. […] In just about every department, there are potential service disruptions.”
The doctor says he hopes that the mobilization planned by the SOS Outaouais coalition for October 30 – citizens are invited to sign a manifesto – will “possibly awaken the population and open the eyes of the people who have the power to ensure that things change.”
“We agree that at the moment, the problem, for me at least, is that Ms. LeBel’s instructions to the Treasury Board remain that we have no money. So anyone who goes to see her for help, like Minister Lacombe [responsable de l’Outaouais]was told that we had no money, he said. Maybe we were a little lucky to have been able to shout loud enough and long enough [pour l’enjeu des technologues].»
Widespread discontent
According to Dr. Bonneville, who was able to feel the pulse as recently as this week during a meeting, all the department heads of the network “are in good shape.”
The President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel. (Stéphane Lessard/Le Nouvelliste)
“We wonder what we are doing. The very simple example I use is the deficit of 180 million [en financement annuel pour la santé dans la région] which was calculated by the Outaouais Development Observatory. When we do a little calculation, even with the $22,000 per head of pipe for the 60 technologists [en primes]we did not exceed 1% of the deficit, he says. But we brag about ourselves saying that we have solved the problem.”
Citing the fact that there are only 30% to 40% of the nursing staff in the emergency rooms of Gatineau and Hull, the emergency physician maintains that we must make “more lemonade with fewer lemons” but that those- They are in a hurry as much as possible due to the glaring lack of staff.
The sources of frustration that arise most among department heads are multiple, according to Dr. Bonneville.
“We are the worst region in terms of health computerization in Quebec, you have to do everything on paper, that creates problems; we have a high turnover rate among administrative staff: when a clerk is there for more than three months, I am stunned. You always have to waste a lot of time re-validating that things were done correctly, etc., he explains. And there are waiting times for surgery. In plastic surgery, it’s a disaster; in orthopedics we have problems; and in general surgery, we have had three departures since the start of the summer in Gatineau and Hull. Those who remain are exhausted, they are asked to go to sea with almost no resources.
