Is it so wrong for us to believe that when we get sick we'll get the best possible care? As Canadians, with our tradition of universal health care, don't we have the right to expect just that? Then, why are there thousands of people who have been afflicted by health care neglect – people struggling to stay alive and suffering along with their families and friends, and many others who have tragically died? These are victims who are suffering or have died due to poor quality of care, not because our health care system is inadequately funded.

With this said and before I go any further on the subject, I would like to earnestly appeal to Prime Minister Paul Martin and to all the ministers in the government, to our health care providers, and to each and everyone who lives in this great country of ours: Open your eyes and look at yourselves not as the Prime Minister, or as the health minister, or as the government, or as a doctor, nurse or hospital worker. Each one of you just look at yourself and say, "I'm like everyone else. I'm just an ordinary human being who might get sick one day and I'd expect the best possible health care. I don't want to die or be severely afflicted because of health care neglect. And I don’t want my husband or wife, mom or dad, sisters, brothers or friends to suffer the same fate either.”

State-of-the-art equipment, expansion of hospitals, more beds, more staff – these are the things the health care providers say will solve all the problems of our health care system. Our health care providers are saying "Give us more funding and then we'll be able to deliver better health care to the public." But the people with non-life-threatening diseases who have died or are still suffering from health care neglect didn't need all that. They just wanted a doctor who cared, a nurse who cared, and a hospital that cared. A recent Ipsos-Reid poll on hospitals commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association showed that patient care has gotten worse in the last few years. What we are saying to our health care providers is, "Just do your job well.”

In February 2003, CBC program Disclosure aired these stories: A New Brunswick woman died after her psychiatrist prescribed eight times more than the manufacturer’s approved dose for an elderly patient. An obstetrician left a roll of gauze inside a female patient then tried to get his staff to cover it up. A newborn baby in British Columbia displayed symptoms of herpes virus. Her doctor correctly diagnosed her condition but neglected to treat her properly. The child suffered brain damage and is now a spastic quadriplegic. What can we do to save these people from a lifetime of severe affliction or from paying the ultimate price – death? Shouldn't we feel the same compassion for these people as we do for the terminally ill? Or, do we shrug our shoulders and say, "Well that's the way it is. It's just a few cases where things didn't go right for some unfortunate people."

Nurses also are negligent by being careless on the job. Their ability to look after and closely monitor patients leaves much to be desired. This part of the job is critical for the patient's health and well being and goes beyond simply giving medication and IV or taking temperature and blood pressure. Mind you, in these things too they have to be careful.

It's a known fact there's a shortage of nurses and when they're asked to work double shifts, the quality of nursing care would most certainly deteriorate. But here the hospitals are to blame. They get huge sums of money from the government and rake in millions of dollars from fundraising and lotteries. But, instead of using some of the money to hire more nurses they pour it all into research, equipment, beds and hospital extensions. And as a result, they're endangering the lives of patients by failing to provide the proper quality of nursing care.

It's tragic when a person dies from cancer or heart disease. The doctors say, "Well, we did what we could but couldn't save her" and we accept it. But what about the many people who die from non-life-threatening diseases such as bowel illnesses simply because of negligence - die when they shouldn't have, and the doctor says, "We did our best. She had too many problems. She would've died anyway." Isn't that just disgusting!

When people die in hospitals, the cause of death is determined from an autopsy or by merely describing it in vague terms such as "complications from treatment" or "cardiac arrest during surgery.” Every hospital should have an independent group, of non-health care people, investigate any death that normally shouldn’t have occurred. A "watch-dog" committee that oversees the health care responsibilities of hospitals. It's like the Auditor General is a "watch-dog" for the government's fiscal responsibilities. The committee would determine the true cause of death and, if it was a case of neglectful care, then the people involved – doctors, nurses, hospital administration – would be held responsible and pay for their actions.

Did you know there isn't accountability and nothing is done about negligence even when it's obvious? And if that's the case, then how can we not only eliminate it, but also prevent it from happening again and again and again? Negligent health care providers must be held liable for their actions. Right now they know they won't have to suffer any consequences for their neglectful conduct. Even when there's no doubt it's a case of neglect and a doctor is sued for malpractice, the doctor is not in the least bit concerned. Why? Ninety percent of the doctors are members of the Canadian Medical Protective Association. Its mandate is to protect the doctor's reputation at all costs and it has 2 billion dollars at its disposal. So, of course, costs mean nothing and the negligent doctor gets to keep his reputation intact. Causing death or a lifetime of affliction due to neglectful care may not be a criminal act but shouldn't there be some sort of penalty? Then you might ask, "What about the College of Physicians and Surgeons? Don't they deal with complaints and censure doctors?" Yes they do, but do you know what kind of complaints they deal with? Ninety per cent are about sexual misconduct of doctors and the other 10 per cent deals with abuse by doctors in issuing prescriptions for medication.

Isn’t it sad that neglectful care hits the headlines only when it’s a big story? Is it called “neglect” just because the number of deaths are high? But, what if it’s a single case of either an elderly lady who dies when she wasn’t supposed to, or someone who has to suffer a lifetime of pain and affliction, all because of a careless doctor, or nurse, or hospital? Is it then simply referred to as an “unfortunate occurrence”? We think that health care neglect is just what we get to know about from the media, from polls that are conducted, and from the personal stories that we hear about. But what about incidents like “unfortunate occurrences” and things that are merely called accidents, mistakes, human error, poor quality of work, that's just the way the system works, or go unnoticed because the consequences aren't so serious? Whichever way you look at it, it is all neglect. It's "failure to provide the proper standard of care." That's HEALTH CARE NEGLECT.

It's a broad definition, but here are the legal interpretations. Doctors are negligent if they don't ask for and use information about your illness. Nurses are neglectful if they don't monitor their patients. And, hospitals have to exercise care in order to avoid harming patients and ensure timely treatment.

In the Story, I've shown you what neglect is all about. The surgeon who had vital information he kept to himself and didn't use, the doctors and nurses who should've seen and been alarmed at my wife's failing health and done something about it. And the hospital that didn't give her proper care and timely treatment. Had they simply done their jobs like they're supposed to, she wouldn't have died.

All this neglectful care, I firmly believe, is happening everywhere. Do you want your life to come to a tragic end or suffer a fate worse than death - I mean a lifetime of pain and affliction - all because a doctor, or a nurse, or a hospital was careless in treating you? Wouldn't your answer be a strong "NO!"? For all the victims of careless treatment we can't undo what's been done. All we can do is sympathize and say, "Sorry." Then what? Is that it? Do we simply sit back and say, "Sorry" when something like this happens again and again? Or do we say, "We've got to do something to save people from death or a lifetime of suffering at the hands of a neglectful doctor, a careless nurse and a negligent hospital." It's a choice we must make and now is the time to do it.

After my wife died, many people told me their stories about Health Care Neglect. I've told you what it's all about. I've explained what it means. I've described that it's a lot more than the few sensational stories and malpractice cases. I've made you aware it's not about inadequate funding. I've shown you it won't go away unless there's accountability. And, it won't go away unless all of us get together and say to the Government loud and clear, "This can't go on. Health Care Neglect is a serious problem. We've got to act now to deal with it."

I urge all you dedicated doctors and nurses who want to see better quality of care but are so frustrated you've simply given up, and all you politicians, and all of you out there in the general public to tell me your stories about neglectful care. Tell your family and friends and anyone else who didn't get this survey to tell me their stories as well. The government has got to know I'm not the lone voice - "We're all in it together."

I personally have faith that our government will do the right thing and endorse health care reform. We've then got to set up an organization representing the general public, "the users of the system", mandated to determine the cause of health care neglect, then plan and implement measures to eliminate it and prevent recurrence.

I'm doing this for one reason only - "Bring about change in our health care system so that there are no more Victims of Health Care Neglect." I set out on this course alone. Now I need you to take up the cause. Only through your voice and with your help can we make health care reform happen and achieve this goal. This is about life or death, health or affliction for us, our families and our fellow human beings. I'm appealing to each and every one of you - in Ottawa, throughout this great land of ours or anywhere else in the world - to support my endeavour. I'm urging you to stand up and be counted. If we all rally towards this humanitarian cause we'll get results. Here's your chance to make a difference. Please don't throw it away.

If you're behind me on this it's vital for you to respond. Tell me your own feelings and stories about health care neglect. And all of you who, so far, have been fortunate not to have experienced it, tell me what you think. Can I count on you for your support, now that you're aware about health care neglect and that someday you might become a victim? I strongly believe we need an organization to champion the cause of all the victims of health care neglect, exert pressure to bring about swift changes and, in doing so, protect us from becoming victims. Give me your views on this. And please do take the time to send me all your comments.

The last page of this survey tells you how to respond. You have a few choices, but it would help me if you can use the web site to reply. If you can't, please don't let it stop you from responding some other way. And, your postal code is necessary to include you in the survey count when I publish the results. But again, please don't let it stop you from responding if, for whatever reason, you're not able to give me your postal code.

Thank you for reading this and I sincerely hope you'll give me your support!
 
  Ed Mendoza