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Emergency wait times at Brampton Civic top 14 hours: report
Thursday February 19 2009
- Brampton Guardian
Patients needing treatment for more serious ailments could spend some 14 hours waiting in the emergency department at Brampton Civic Hospital (BCH), new provincial data reveals.
Queen’s Park released information Thursday on the average time patients in Ontario can spend waiting in emergency departments.
The information reflects the maximum time nine out of 10 Ontarians spend in the ER, and is measured from the time patients register or initially see a triage nurse until the time they leave the ER.
With respect to Brampton Civic, run by William Osler Health Centre (WOHC), data shows people requiring more time for diagnosis, treatment or hospital bed admission can wait 14.3 hours.
In contrast, those experiencing minor or uncomplicated conditions and requiring less time for diagnosis, treatment or observation typically wait in emergency 5.3 hours.
“This is something we will solve but we will solve over time,” said Dr. Naveed Mohammad, BCH emergency department site chief. “I am very confident that as the data comes out every few months you will notice that things are getting better.”
Long emergency department wait times have been a huge sore spot for residents since the hospital opened in October 2007.
However, provincial data shows BCH is in relatively better shape compared to other hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area.
Patients visiting Mississauga’s Trillium Health Centre for instance are waiting 21.6 hours if they have a more serious condition.
Prior to Thursday’s announcement, Mohammad conceded there is much room for improvement with respect to how long patients wait to see a doctor.
The emergency department at BCH handles between 200 and 300 patients per day, a number far greater than the old Peel Memorial site.
In its first year, Brampton Civic saw 91,000 visits to the emergency department.
Also, BCH tends to treat more critically ill patients compared to other similar size hospitals in Ontario.
That means, a significant number of people coming to BCH for treatment require a bed, which in turn can influence emergency wait times as people have to wait for a bed to free up.
Waits are long but Mohammad said the numbers have continued to drop since the province began collecting data in April.
He stressed challenges faced in emergency departments aren’t unique to Brampton Civic but part of a wider problem in the provincial health care system.
Releasing this information publicly is part of a government push to bring down lengthy waits inside Ontario hospital emergency rooms.
Ontario has set time targets on how long patients should spend waiting for treatment — four hours for those suffering from uncomplicated health problems and eight hours for those with more complex problems.
“Our government is creating an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability in hospital emergency care with the public reporting of time spent in the ER,” said Health and Long-Term Care Minister David Caplan. “We are committed to lowering ER times by providing alternate options for patients, improving ER performance and ensuring more hospital beds are available in a more timely fashion.”
The province is spending $109 million to direct patients away from emergency rooms if they don’t need to be there.
In addition to providing information on emergency waits, Ontario wants to make it easier for people to access information about walk-in clinics, after-hours clinics, and urgent care centres.
Information on emergency department waits can be found online at www.ontariowaittimes.com.
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