Recently disclosed data has revealed that an alarming number of Canadians are choosing to depart from emergency rooms without receiving treatment, exceeding prior estimations. The updated figures for the year 2022-2023 were nowhere to be found in the latest report by the Canadian for Health Information (CIHI).
In response to a request by CTV News, CIHI disclosed startling figures – over 1.3 million Canadians registered and then subsequently left the ER without treatment within the year, spanning April 1, 2022 to March 30, 2023.
This represents a sizable, 34 per cent rise in the number of Canadians who gave up on enduring long ER wait times within just one year, compared to the 963,000 recorded in 2021-2022. It further translates to 8.6 per cent of the 15.1 million Canadians seeking emergency care leaving without receiving medical attention. By way of comparison, this is an increase from the 6.8 per cent who left untreated from an ER among 14.1 million patients in the previous year.
Dr. Catherine Varner, an emergency physician in Toronto and deputy editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, conveyed her concerns about the crisis unfolding in Canada’s emergency units. She described chaotic and overcrowded waiting rooms that lead to patient frustration over the lack of prompt and effective care, resulting in their decision to leave untreated.
Dr. Varner expressed her deepest worry, narrating the grim possibilities faced by those who leave untreated, some of whom might face deteriorating health, or worse, death, due to the medical conditions that drove them to seek emergency care in the first place.
