Tories hiding health data, Liberals say
EDMONTON — Alberta Health Services is far from meeting its targets to reduce the number of seniors waiting in hospital beds for long-term care, according to a performance report the Liberals claim the Redford government is keeping from the public.
The September 2013 report, obtained by the Liberals under freedom of information legislation, shows failures in the health-care system that the governing Tories are trying to hide, said Liberal Leader Dr. Raj Sherman.
“I can see why they didn’t release the quarterly report — because it was embarrassing,” Sherman told reporters at the legislature Monday. “The performance is actually getting worse in the system.”
The quarterly report, which in previous years has been released publicly, shows that as of last June, 510 Albertans remained in acute care beds waiting for long-term care spots — up from 459 the previous year and far off the target of 300.
The data also shows AHS failed to meet its performance targets for wait times in heart bypass surgery, hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery, Sherman said.
The report suggests the health system failed to meet its goal of admitting patients from the emergency room within eight hours. It states only 47 per cent of patients are admitted within that time frame — far below the target of 85 per cent target and slightly down from the previous year.
Last month, AHS changed the way it reported on the performance of the health-care system, switching to average wait times and altering its goals.
Critics said the move to average wait times watered down previous performance measures, like one that called for 90 per cent of patients to be admitted within eight hours.
AHS says the new performance standards are “straightforward and easier to interpret,” but Sherman contends they are “political spin” to paint a rosier picture of the failing health-care system.
“This is in keeping with Alison Redford’s behaviour as a premier,” he said. “If you are failing in the measures of performance, change how you report: move the goalposts and play with the numbers.”
AHS remains committed to the new measurements — which it says “show how we are doing compared to the rest of Canada” — but will continue the previous method of tracking performance for reporting to Alberta Health and the Canadian Institute for Health Information, said AHS spokesman Kerry Williamson.
“We will continue to track some measures we previously reported on for internal purposes and so that we can continue to provide data to other organizations which track this information,” he said in an email.
Despite the Liberal’s concerns about some wait times increasing, overall performance of the system is improving and AHS is focusing on areas that still need improvement, Williamson said.
“We are working to increase volumes of surgeries and decrease wait times; improve access and wait times in emergency; add more continuing care beds; reduce wait lists and improve the ways we deliver quality health care to Albertans,” he said.
Sherman, an emergency room physician, said the cost of health care in Alberta has climbed $5 billion — or 62 per cent — since 2007 while the population increased only 15 per cent.
“When you look at the raw data, you can actually tell our system is going the wrong way despite the billions we’re spending,” he added.