Lack of Anesthetists Made Women Suffer

A letter I wrote a while ago to the Times Colonist was published September 29, 2011 as a story. Here is the story:

Lack of anesthetists made women suffer

It seems patient-centred care in British Columbia means that patients are left in the middle of the mess of the health-care system.

By Times Colonist (Victoria)September 29, 2011

It seems patient-centred care in British Columbia means that patients are left in the middle of the mess of the health-care system.

The review of the August stillbirth at Victoria General Hospital found the reduction in access to anesthesiology since May 31, 2010, resulted in a decline in the quality of care experienced by maternity patients, as those patients are now dependent on the resources of the main operating room.

This has resulted in many scheduled C-sections being delayed, inadequate access to timely pain relief during labour and delivery and increased risks to both mothers and babies. These problems were identified in the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis in 2010 and when Qmentum completed its accreditation process in 2010.

Further, there were resignations and reports in the media about concerns over the quality of care for labour and delivery in Victoria, and in other tertiary level hospitals that do not have access to dedicated obstetric anesthesiology.

Despite this prior information on the risks and impacts of reduced access to anesthesiology for labour and delivery patients in level III hospitals (Victoria General, Surrey Memorial, and Royal Columbian), the health authorities, Health Ministry and anesthetists did not remedy the problem in a timely way. The only level III hospital with dedicated obstetric anesthesiology continues to be B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver.

The women who have given birth in these hospitals and have had scheduled C-sections delayed or denied and the women who have had epidurals delayed or denied have suffered immensely.

The ministry, the health authorities and anesthetists need to be accountable for the denial of access to quality, timely and medically necessary services.

Janice Williams

Victoria

© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.