37 per cent of Albertans surveyed in April and May of last year said they had experienced a preventable medical error at some point in their lives. Of this group, 63 per cent said they did not receive an apology from the doctor or other health care professionals...
Of the 37 per cent who said they or a family member personally had experienced a medical error, 36 per cent said that error resulted in death and another 54 per cent said it resulted in long-term disability for the patients...
A similar survey conducted by the Canadian Institute for Health Information in 2004 found that 24 per cent of Canadians or their family members had experienced an adverse effect during their medical care.
So next time you're wondering whether Alberta's money could help to ease your province's health-care needs, keep in mind that you're already less likely than an Albertan to suffer adverse effects from a preventable medical error (which presumably could result from being given the wrong prescription).
No wonder private-sector care looks better to Albertans than to the rest of the country. But it shouldn't be forgotten that the province's attitude toward public care could have an awful lot to do with the problems in the first place.
No comments:
Post a Comment