Paramedics and healthcare workers transfer a patient from Humber River Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit to a waiting air ambulance as the hospital frees up space In their ICU unit, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 28, 2021. (Photo by Cole Burston / AFP)
A new report shows that the rate of harm in the Canadian health care system is growing, as 1 in 17 patients was harmed during their stay in the hospital, research by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) says.
CIHI’s Hospital Harm report looks at harm caused to patients “that could be potentially prevented by implementing known evidence-informed practices.”
Research shows that the rate of harm for hospital patients increased to 6 percent in 2022–2023 from 5.9 percent in 2020–2021 and up from 5.3 percent in 2014.
That works out to 146,000 out of 2.4 million visits, Kate Parson, program lead for health human resources at CIHI, told The Epoch Times in a phone interview.
Ms. Parson said that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number was lower and did not fluctuate as much.
“It was previously quite stable at around just over 5 percent,” she said.
The report says hospitals have seen a 20 percent increase in pneumonia and urinary tract infections, and a 25 percent increase in aspiration pneumonia, which is a lung infection caused when a patient inhales saliva, food, or other liquid. There was also an increase of over 50 percent in pressure ulcers, also known as bedsores.
“Harm is most often the result of a chain reaction, a failure of the system at multiple stages that makes it difficult to provide proper care,” the report said.
Ms. Parson said the CIHI gathered the data to examine the connection between staff well-being and patient safety.
“The big piece that this report examined that came out today, looked at specifically some types of harms where there’s a link between staff well-being and staffing and patient safety,” Ms. Parson said.
“We put these numbers out as kind of information to drive change,” she said.
One of the reasons cited for the increase in patient harm was staffing challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In 2021–2022, nurses and other health care providers working in hospital inpatient units across Canada logged more sick time and overtime hours compared with the previous year,” the report authors said.
Report statistics show a 17 percent increase in reported sick time for nurses and hospital inpatient staff in 2021–2022 from the previous year.
Over 14 million overtime hours were logged in 2021–2022, a 50 percent increase from the previous year, the report said.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) said that nurses have been speaking out about issues making their jobs difficult even before the pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic challenged hospital staff on many fronts, making the delivery of care difficult for health-care teams,” Amber Morley told The Epoch Times in an email. “The high rates of overtime, vacancies, shortages, and unsustainable workloads have had a direct impact on nurses’ ability to deliver care in the way that they believe they should.”
“These situations have created distress for nurses, increased levels of burnout, and resulted in increases of hospital harm events that are easily prevented with these contributing factors resolved.”
CIHI also found that the number of hours worked by nurses from outside agencies increased from 850,000 in 2020–2021 to 1.5 million in 2021–2022. However, the report says the number of these health care providers only represents 1 percent of the total volume of hours worked in hospital inpatient units.
CIHI’s report notes that patients are treated by a variety of health care professionals when staying in a hospital and that a team-based approach where professionals are given enough time with patients is needed to reduce patient harm.
“Supportive work environments are key for effective team-based hospital care and patient well-being, now and in the future,” the report authors wrote.
Ms. Morley said the CNA supports making adjustments to create a better work environment for nurses.
“The Canadian Nurses Association has continued to advocate for a multifaceted approach including the retention of nurses,” she said.
Ms. Pearson said the CIHI was interested in tracking changes hospitals make to see how well they work.
“As a data organization, what we’re supportive of is sort of measuring the effectiveness of those things in order to see what’s most effective.”