Cardiac surgeries: patients die due to lack of resources, according to an association of specialist doctors

Over the past fifteen months, between 67 and 79 patients have died while waiting for heart surgery due to the lack of perfusionists to carry out an operation, specialist doctors say. They are demanding better pay for their colleagues to avoid worsening the shortage.

“When I got the figures, it was a shock. In an advanced Western country, this is not acceptable,” says the D^r Louis Perrault, president of the Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Quebec, in interview with our Parliamentary Office.

His association carried out the review after hearing of around ten deaths linked to a single establishment.

In 2019, specialist doctors had already sounded the alarm after a dozen deaths in four months, again due to lack of staff. Previously, such deaths were rare, according to their federation.

However, surgeons and operating rooms are available, assures the D^r Perrault. But surgeries cannot go ahead without perfusionists since they are essential to operating the “heart-lung” machine, which keeps the patient alive during surgery.

At his side, the D^r Bernard Cantin, president of the Association of Cardiologists of Quebec, considers it “scandalous” to see the health system escape patients placed on a waiting list.

These may suffer from blocked blood vessels, for example, or aortic stenosis. Sometimes all it takes is “excessive” physical effort for death to occur.

Not to mention that patients see their situation deteriorate after too long a delay, adds the D^r Canteen.

Their exit occurred on the same day as that of the president of their federation, the FMSQ. In full negotiations to renew the framework agreement for specialist doctors, the D^r Vincent Oliva denounced yesterday the consequences of the fight against the $1.5 billion deficit in the health network.

Shortage

With 70 perfusionists in Quebec currently, around twenty are missing to meet the needs.

The president of the Association of Clinical Perfusionists of Quebec compares the situation to a “leaky basket”. Quebec has increased the number of university registrations, “but we are losing more and more,” explains Yannick Pinard.

In recent years, eight of its members have left the province for Ontario or the United States and 27 students or active perfusionists have abandoned the profession.

Of those who remain, 25 are over 50 years old and are therefore slowly heading towards retirement.

A young person leaving school will obtain an hourly rate of $27.46 in Quebec, compared to a salary ranging from $42 to $65, depending on the region, in Ontario.

Best salary

In order to slow down the exodus, perfusionists are demanding an hourly rate of $51 upon entry, in addition to better salary progression.

In the office of the Minister of Health, we say we are “very concerned about the surgical waiting lists” and we promise to examine “the data from the union of cardiovascular surgeons”.

Minister Christian Dubé’s press secretary, however, recalls the context of the negotiations and invites medical specialists “to discuss the renewal of the framework agreement at the negotiating table.”