A Brampton family is frustrated after their 72-year-old grandmother had the wrong leg cut open during Christmas Day surgery at the city's new hospital.
But residents demanding better hospital care say the alleged medical mistake is one more in a long list of complaints they've heard since the Brampton Civic Hospital opened last October 28th.
Amar Kaur Brar, 72, fractured her thigh bone when she slipped from the stairs at the family's Brampton home, her granddaughter Kanwaljot Brar, 21, told The Sun yesterday.
"She just missed one stair and fell down," Brar said.
The family took her to the emergency room at Brampton Civic where doctors told them her left leg was broken and surgery was needed.
"In the operating room, doctors cut Amar's right leg open," Brar said, adding the cut ran almost the entire length of her grandmother's thigh.
When they realized that the bone in Amar's right leg was okay, they stitched her up and performed surgery on her left leg, she said.
"She's in so much pain now," Brar said. "She can't move either leg ... she can't move at all."
Doctors told the family after surgery that they opened the wrong leg, she said.
Along with the pain, Amar has been confused and disoriented since the operation.
She remains in the hospital with her son Gurcharan Singh Brar at her side.
"We don't know what to do now for her," Brar said.
The issue is further complicated because Amar arrived in Canada from India in August and wasn't issued a health card until Thursday.
Brar said the family isn't certain if they will have to pay for the hospital care up to that point.
This week's incident comes a few weeks after 1,000 residents took to the streets protesting conditions at the hospital, where they claim patients wait up to 12 hours in the emergency room only to deal with understaffed and insensitive health-care workers.
In response to inquiries about Amar's case yesterday, the hospital issued a statement.
"William Osler Health Centre's top priority is the well-being and safety of our patients and staff," the statement reads.
The centre is made up of Brampton, Peel and Etobicoke hospitals.
In order to protect patient privacy, the hospital said it could not comment on the specific case. "We cannot release any information about a patient or any information about the care provided to a patient without his or her written consent," the release states.
The hospital does have a quality of care committee, a patient incident reporting system and a patient safety committee in place to respond if an incident occurs.
"We're following all of our processes with regard to this case," hospital communications director Gillian Williams McClean said.
Rajinder Saini of Bramptonians for Better Health Care said the incident is another in a long list of complaints the group has heard about the hospital.
"Things are not good at this new facility," Saini said.
"They use excuses like shortages of funds and staff." He called operating on the wrong leg an 'unbelievable' mistake."
"She had swelling on the broken leg, they had X-rays, they had everything," Saini said.
Media attention focused on the hospital in November when Brampton resident Harnek Sidhu, 52, allegedly waited 12 hours for a bed before he died of pancreatitis 10 days later.
Following the protests in early December, the province stepped in and appointed a hospital supervisor.
Amid the problems at the new hospital the future of the old hospital, Peel Memorial, remains uncertain.
Protesters have maintained the fast-growing city needs both hospitals to serve the burgeoning population.
A plan for the old site, that has been temporarily closed when the new hospital opened, is being developed.
Two public meetings, one January 9th at the Pearson Convention Centre and January 17th at Courtyard by Marriott on Biscayne Court, have been scheduled.
Both meetings start at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Toronto Sun
Related articles:
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Brampton Civic Hospital operates on wrong leg
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Top grades from CCHSA experts for Peel's long-term care homes
Peel's five long-term care centres have received a full, three-year accreditation, with no high risk areas identified, from the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA).
CCHSA is Canada's leading authority for excellence among health services organizations.
This award is the highest level of accreditation that can be achieved, according to a statement issued by the Region. It was granted to only 20 per cent of organizations assessed in 2006.
Health experts from CCHSA commended Peel Long Term Care for being a leader in the field. They recognized the five Regional centres, including the Vera M. Davis Community Care Centre in Bolton, for providing compassionate, client-focused care, being receptive to new ideas, responding to the diverse needs of clients, implementing good safety practices and adopting innovative ideas in activation programming.
"For Peel's Long Term Care centres, being accredited speaks highly of how we care for our clients, how we treat each other and how we collaborate with our partners in the community," said Regional CAO David Szwarc. "By participating in the accreditation process, we build trust among our clients and instill confidence in the services we provide. The accreditation process is valuable and meaningful to our staff because they are engaged in this journey from the start and care about the outcomes."
During this year's review, the Regional homes were also required to comply with 21 new standards related to patient safety. These new requirements help identify unsafe situations, reduce risk to residents and promote safer care. The CCHSA's surveyors found no unmet patient safety standards at Peel's centres.
"The accreditation award recognizes the skills and dedication of long-term care staff," said Caledon Councillor Annette Groves, chair of Peel health services. "Thank you to everyone who participated in the accreditation journey for being open with the surveyors and providing your valuable insight on the quality of care and services we provide to our clients."
CCHSA's surveyors also identified opportunities for growth. They provided nine recommendations related to the centres' quality improvement programs, emergency preparedness practices, complaints process, palliative care, policy management and protocols for ethical decision making.
