Monitoring of 5,800 patients compromised due to human error

Thousands of patients at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval (CHU) who are waiting to take an exam, consult a specialist or obtain a follow-up appointment with their doctor have been hoping in vain for eight months for a call back, and for good reason: their file was never transmitted.

THE University Hospital announced Wednesday that it had discovered that a human manipulation generated a significant breakage in the transmission chain of clinical requests.

The sectors affected by the incident are the outpatient clinics of internal medicine, endocrinology and ophthalmology at the Enfant-Jésus Hospital.

According to the director of professional services and medical affairs, Julien Clément, a data entry error is at the origin of the problem. Patient requests were not recorded in the computer system of the University Hospital.

Inadequate treatment

X control, a blood test, things like that, there is a request that is made in relation to that and it is this request for which there was a handling error”,”text”: “At the end of a medical appointment, the doctor will say [au patient s’il a] need of [le] see again, [lui] TO DO [passer] control X-rays, a blood test, things like that, there is a request that is made in relation to that and it is this request for which there was a handling error”}}”>At the end of a medical appointment, the doctor will say [au patient s’il a] need of [le] see again, [lui] TO DO [passer] control X-rays, a blood test, things like that, there is a request that is made in relation to that and it is this request for which there was a handling errorexplained Dr. Clément during a press scrum.

Result: patients have somehow fallen into limbo. According to University Hospitalthe appointment or follow-up requests of 5,800 users may not have been adequately processed.

THE University Hospital invites patients from the three outpatient clinics concerned who obtained a request between September 4, 2023 and May 10, 2024 to come forward. They can do so by calling 418 525-4444, extension 82933, Monday to Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

CHU will call back as soon as possible”,”text”:”Outside these hours, it is possible to leave a voice message and a CHU professional will call back as soon as possible”}}”>Outside of these hours, it is possible to leave a voice message and a professional University Hospital will call back as soon as possiblespecifies the establishment.

If you have any doubt, if your doctor has prescribed an examination or a follow-up appointment and you have not had it, it would be important to contact the CHU de Québec in order to clarify everything.

In order to reduce the potential impacts on the health of its customers, the CHU will communicate with all potentially affected patients.

The doctors of University Hospital and the referring doctors of the Integrated University Health and Social Services Network of Laval University will also be contacted.

Julien Clément is aware that the state of health of certain users may have worsened due to the situation.

I hope not, but it’s definitely a possibility that shouldn’t be swept under the rug.he admitted.

The break in the chain of transmission of medical requests was noted on May 10. Dr Clément affirmed that steps were quickly taken to catch up exams and appointments that could not be offered.

Nobody lit

The Provincial Grouping of User Committees finds the situation unacceptable. Its general director, Sylvie Tremblay, says she has stunned to learn that the problem had only been discovered after several months.

Why wasn’t this detected before? There are surely people [en attente d’un suivi]who called and there is no one who turned onshe laments in an interview with Radio-Canada.

Ms. Tremblay criticizes University Hospital not making all the necessary efforts to allow the patients concerned to find out about their file. For her, it is insult to injury.

p.m. to 4 p.m.h, and make sure there are people who respond. This is important because there are people who are going to be very, very, very nervous and who will not understand why there was no follow-up for months”,”text”:”Allow people to call within the next few hours, not necessarily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and make sure there are people who answer. It’s important because there are people who will be very, very, very nervous and who will not understand why there was no follow-up for months”}}”>Allow people to call you within the next few hours, not necessarily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and have people answer. This is important because there are people who will be very, very, very nervous and who will not understand why there was no follow-up for monthsshe argues.

Close follow-up

In a brief written statement sent to Radio-Canada, the office of the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, wanted to be reassuring.

CHU de Québec will ensure close follow-up with the people concerned “,”text”:”We are very sensitive to this situation for patients. The Quebec University Hospital will ensure close follow-up with the people concerned “}}”>We are very sensitive to this situation for patients. THE University Hospital of Quebec will ensure close follow-up with the people concerned we were told.

With the collaboration of Pierre-Alexandre Bolduc and Julien Fontaine-Doray