Jack Layton and the NDP wonder why people don't take them seriously. This is just another example why. I caught a clip of Layton earlier today advising the Democrat's that 50% of the people who seek treatment in a hospital emergency room in Canada receive treatment within 6 minutes. That's right, 6 MINUTES!
At the time, I thought maybe I heard it wrong, so never gave it much thought. Turn on Power Play to see Tom Clark interviewing Layton from the U.S., and he repeats again that 50% of people receive medical care within 6 MINUTES.
Exactly what socialist utopia is Layton living in? About the only way you are getting treatment that fast is if you are flat lining. About the only thing that happens in the first 6 minutes is the nurse handing you the forms for admittance, and even then 6 minutes is a stretch. So I thought I would take a look at some of the average hospital wait times in various provinces or cities.
Quebec- The latest emergency room rankings are out and the average wait is more than 17 hours. (as of May 26th, 2009).
Ontario- Ontarians typically waited one to four hours in the province's emergency rooms over a recent one-year period, although wait times in some larger cities stretched past nine hours, according to a new study.
Alberta- A new emergency department team will be working on setting provincial targets on how quickly patients should receive care in hospital emergency wards in Alberta. Patients in Edmonton hospitals are currently waiting an average of six hours in emergency departments to get treatment once they enter the doors. Some are waiting too long and are dying or having heart attacks in the waiting room, doctors say.
Calgary- New statistics show lineups in Calgary emergency rooms have increased dramatically this winter because of hospital overcrowding, with some patients facing delays 31 per cent longer than just one year ago. The figures show emergency patients requiring hospitalization faced a median wait time of 16.6 hours at the city's three hospitals in February before being transferred to a bed.
Toronto- The poorest performing hospital emergency rooms for patients with minor health issues in the Toronto area include Toronto East General Hospital, with a 6.5-hour wait for nine out of 10 patients, and Mount Sinai Hospital, at 6.2 hours.
Sure Jack, 6 minutes. Looks like you might need some treatment ASAP!
And on the same day Layton says that we read this: "A woman admitted to Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital for an induced birth was forced into a do-it-yourself delivery last month, with only her non-medically trained common-law partner to assist. A hospital official said Wednesday that an investigation is under way."
The Canadian Health Care System: If were to busy, just do it yourself.
H/T to commenter Surecure, who left some very informative comments and also provided this link as well. Layton certainly appears to have mislead the Democtrat's in regards to how well our health care system funstions.
http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/products/emergency_department_wait_times_e.pdf
15 comments:
Why would he say that?
Was his statement based upon his visit to that private clinic he went to for his back?
Nice one Ian. I forgot all about that.
Surely comrade Jack meant to say six "hours" rather than six "minutes".
The reality is that we get attention within 6 "days".
--machiavelli
he just handed what NDP support he had left over to the Liberals.
Time to go Jack.
I demand to know what comrade jack is smoking so I can get me some...
Hopefully the American politicians do their due diligence re this file.
I seriously doubt that the triage nurses in Emerg. even see you that fast but that could be his intended meaning.
All this aside, Jacko had better NOT EVER complain about the amazing and efficient Canadian medicare system needing more cash.
He has inadvertently applied duck tape to his mouth on any further criticisms.
6 minutes ?
What amazing work the conservatives have been doing. Laytoon should be praising PMSH to the moon.
He said that "acute care" cases are seen in emerg within 6 minutes. I take it you guys do know the difference, right?
Here's part of his speech printed by the Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/644433
He is saying the truth... but it is a Michael Moore style of the truth. To truly understand where his brain is, check this blog out:
http://www.ryananddebi.com/2008/12/19/healthcare-wait-times-us-vs-canada/
As you can see, his number of six minutes fits in only when you are looking at the MOST severe of acute care cases (i.e. gunshots, respiratory failure, etc) and even then only 50% of those cases get seen within the first six minutes. After that, 86% get seen in the first half hour.
Typical brain-dead-socialist zombie-talk. Don't worry about the truth... just watch the talking head.
Actually no he didn't He stated on Power Play that 50% of people visiting an ER recieve treatment in 6 minutes. I have it saved on the PVR.
Even at the 50% in 6 minutes for life and death cases hardly seems like a glowing figure.
A Manitoba perspective for you Paul..and may I compliment you on a great blog!
Having observed our Manitoba system from both 'inside'(30+yrs)and now just a private user of the system..I could tell you MANY horror stories about wait times!
I broke my wrist this winter from a slip on ice,and spent 4 hrs in Emerg in fairly lge Hosp in SE Man.I was given an ice gel-pack when I went in,that was only half frozen,and quickly warmed as I waited.I was to the point of nauseous,and passing out from pain,my hand had balloned to 3x normal size..yet I sat and waited while the nurses and Drs.joked and laughed..basically ignoring the filled wait room!
I also remember working 4-12 shift in a rural hosp,and when outpatients came in,the Dr.on call was usually well 'in his cups' and would refuse to come to Hosp to see patients! He would tell the nurses to send patient home to return in a.m.
layton is an absolute LIAR re this matter,and I could refute his claim hundreds of times over!
Thanks Sammy. I had a similar incident with a broken wrist. I broke the scafoid(sp?) bone, one of the worst bones to break in your wrist. I sat for 6 hours (not minutes), before a cast was finally applied. When I arrived there were only three other people in the waiting room. There were probably 8 nurses chatting at the counter during most of my wait.
The next day I went to see my family doctor, who quickly stated the cast was not done properly. I had to go back to the ER the next day and have my wrist rebroken so a new cast could be put on properly.
Paulstuff: As I posted right above you, yes he did say that half of acute care visits are seen within 6 minutes. And I posted a Star publication of Jack Layton's speech (as submitted by Layton himself).
The problem is that for him to say that half of acute care (read: emergency department) patients are seen within 6 minutes is completely and utterly wrong. This 6 minute mark is only for the MOST extreme cases in the Emergency Department.
Here is an actual report on wait times:
http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/products/emergency_department_wait_times_e.pdf
They indicate Emergency Department visits as ED in this report. Look at pages 6 and 7 and tell me in all of that information where it says that ED (read: acute care as Layton says) visits are seen within 6 minutes. You can't. Because right in black and white it says:
"• Average waits to initial assessment by a physician tend to be longer in high-volume community hospital EDs, regardless of whether a patient is eventually admitted to a hospital or discharged from the ED. In these settings, at least half of the patients wait 1.2 hours or more to be seen by a physician; 10% of patients are seen within 0.3 hours (10th percentile); and the same proportion of patients wait 3.6 hours or more (90th percentile).
• In teaching hospital EDs, at least half of the patients wait 1.1 hours or less for their initial physician assessment and 10% of patients wait 3.3 hours or more (90th percentile).
• Conversely, at low-volume and medium-volume EDs in community hospitals, the time to initial physician assessment for at least half of patients is 0.5 and 0.8 hours, respectively. The 10% of patients who wait the longest (90th percentile) spend at least 1.6 and 2.3 hours, respectively, waiting to be seen by a doctor."
The closest you get to his assessment is when you are looking at low volume hospitals where half are seen within 0.5 hours or thirty minutes, a full five times longer than what Layton states. The information that applies to his position can be found on pages 9 through 11. As you can see, the 50% of patients in 6 minutes applies only to CTAS I patients, or those requiring immediate resuscitation.
It's quite a stretch of the truth to say that acute care patients -- which in any accepted terminology applies to all Emergency Department patients -- are seen in six minutes.
Fantastic information Surecure. I'm going to add your link to the original post. Thanks.
No problem. Just looking for some honesty in the facts, that's all.
If Layton had been correct, I would have gladly accepted it. And I figured he had to be pulling numbers out of somewhere. But, anybody who has had to walk into Emergency knows that Layton is out to lunch if he thinks even a noticeable percentage of people are seen within 6 minutes. That, or MP's health benefits get them ahead of the line as we have always heard.
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