Increase in the number of accidents occurring during the delivery of healthcare

An intravenous line is seen in the hand of a patient in the emergency room of The Montreal Children's Hospital, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 in Montreal. (The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi)

There has been an increase in the number of incidents and accidents occurring during the delivery of health care and social services in Quebec. Half of the incidents occurred in residential and long-term care centres (CHSLDs) and a third in hospitals.

The most frequent types of accidents and incidents were falls and near-falls (41 per cent), followed by medication-related events (23 per cent). Other types of events - which include breaches of confidentiality, runaways or disappearances, respiratory obstruction and pressure ulcers - account for 18 per cent.

According to an annual report by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, published on Wednesday, the number of reports had been falling for several years, but there has been an increase in the last year. The department’s report covers the period from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, for which there were around 56,000 incidents, representing a 13 per cent increase compared with last year.

Incidents are described as an action or situation that does not result in any consequences for a user’s state of health or well-being, but which could result in consequences in the future. “Incidents are events that do not affect the user: the action or situation is detected before it can reach the user and have consequences for him or her,” the report states.

There were just over 446,500 accidents, an increase of 8.35 per cent compared with last year. Accidents are defined as “an action or situation where a risk occurs and is, or could be, the cause of consequences for the state of health or well-being of the user.”

It is important to note that although the number of accidents and incidents has increased, the proportion in relation to the number of care services provided is comparable to last year.

For the period analyzed in 2023-2024, there were 6.3 million in-patient medical consultations, 3.6 million emergency room visits, 210 million laboratory analyses and nearly 506,200 surgeries performed.

In addition, around 16,400 reports were excluded from the report because they did not include all the information that had to be filled in for a proper analysis.

The vast majority of the events reported (99.7 per cent) did not result in any serious or permanent consequences. Some 774 events (0.15 per cent) resulted in serious or permanent consequences, and 679 accidents (0.14 per cent) were associated with a fatality.

People aged 75 and over are more likely to be affected by incidents or accidents, accounting for almost 60 per cent of reports in this age group. Women are also over-represented, with 52.8 per cent of cases involving them.

The reporting of incidents and accidents and the establishment of the national register of incidents and accidents occurring in the provision of health and social care services stem from legal obligations. The report includes incidents and accidents occurring in public and private establishments.

This story by The Canadian Press was first published in French March 5, 2025.