June
20, 2006
Emergency
Room Reports
"We
have received recently, and I'm sure we have received in
the past, thoughtful and constructive suggestions from medical
personnel across the province in relation to the emergency
rooms in which they work. Most recently I received the planning
document from, I believe, two doctors and a nurse who work
at Royal Columbian Hospital. That report contained a number
of, again, very thoughtful and constructive suggestions."
"The one passage which was of concern to me and of
concern to my deputy was the reference to morbidity and
mortality. We have been reviewing that suggestion with the
Fraser Health Authority, with the Ministry of Health and
with the Canadian Institute for Health Information."
"We have been unable to find any indication of accelerated
morbidity, mortality as a consequence of conditions in ERs."
Minister of Health George Abbott, Hansard,
April 27, 2006
Based
on what the Minister told the Legislature, you might think
it would be trivial for the staff in the Ministry of Health
to pull from their records copies of emails or other correspondence
with the Canadian Institute for Health Information with
respect to any relationship between conditions in emergency
rooms and morbidity or mortality. I was so interested in
the Ministry's claim to have conducted such research that
on April 28th I faxed a freedom
of information request for any documents which might
support the Minister's statement. On June 16th I received
a letter dated June 12th, a day past the deadline for receiving
a reply, in which an Acting Information and Privacy Officer
for the Ministry notified me: "Due to the need for
consultation with other public bodies regarding your request,
we are unable to respond to your request within the regular
legislated time limit of 30 days." The letter didn't
state whether the other public body was the Premier's issue
management team, and it would probably be a waste of time
to try to find out who is being consulted. The new deadline
for a response is July 26, 2006, when, if past experience
is any guide, there will probably be another excuse for
not providing any documents and perhaps extending the time
limit. Eventually I will probably have to appeal to the
Office of the Commissioner, which will further extend time
limits. Failure to provide documents that substantiate what
Abbott said in the Legislature could lead to questions,
and possibly review by a legislative committee, on whether
he misled the Legislature. It will take time, something
people in overcrowded emergency rooms don't have, but Abbott
cannot escape accountability.
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