Ombudsman demands action on patient transfers
Probe will be reopened if nothing done, André Marin warns Ontario Liberals
TORONTO Ontario’s ombudsman is warning the governing Liberals that unless they live up to their promise to protect patients by regulating non-emergency medical transfers soon, he’ll be forced to reopen his investigation of the industry.
About 400,000 people are transported every year in privately owned vehicles that look like ambulances, ombudsman André Marin said Tuesday. But nothing’s been done to regulate the sector for two years.
“This is a case where the wheels are literally falling off the bus,” he said after releasing his annual report. “Some of these vehicles, parts are flying off them. We have patients falling off gurneys. It’s a question of time before there is a major catastrophe.”
Marin said he agreed not to publish his report in 2011 after Premier Kathleen Wynne — then transportation minister — and Health Minister Deb Matthews agreed that the industry needed to be regulated. The coroner has been asking for regulation since 1995, he said. He said he recently reminded Wynne of her promise. But Transportation Minister Glen Murray wasn’t even aware of the report.
“Since 1995, the government has a history of panicking when the issue comes up — when there’s a crash and someone gets injured or someone gets killed,” Marin said, adding that when media interest fades, the government’s interest in changing the legislation stalls.
The Liberals are taking their responsibility too lightly, NDP health critic France Gélinas said.
“They look, they feel, they come when you call the ambulance, but yet they’re not,” she said of the transport system. “They’re set up to deceive people, and they do, each and every day.”
Matthews said she’s still committed to regulating the sector.
“My ministry has been working diligently on a policy framework that addresses the quality and safety issues identified in the report,” she said in a statement. “We are consulting with industry, health-care providers, consumers and their families, and updating the ombudsman on our progress.”
But there’s other “unfinished business” the Liberals have yet to act on, Marin said, such as replacing an outdated law that resulted in a “massive” violation of civil rights during the G20 protests in Toronto three years ago.
The Special Investigations Unit still doesn’t have teeth to properly investigate police involved in cases of serious injury or death, he said.
“If the resolution is not followed with action, it’s as hollow as a broken promise,” Marin said.
Progress has been made on other fronts, such as dealing with operational stress injuries and suicide among Ontario Provincial Police officers, he said.