There has been a 31 per cent decrease in avoidable deaths in hospitals since 2006, according to an analysis of data from both the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).

Between 2006 and 2008 there were a recorded 71,335 “avoidable” deaths in Ontario hospitals, according to CIHI’s data. That number had dropped to 26,070 by 2013. OCHU found that in 2016 that number had fallen even more, hitting 3,200.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement defines avoidable deaths as deaths resulting from hospital errors.

However, OCHU blames cuts to healthcare funding and understaffed hospitals.

“Underfunding leads to understaffing,” Michael Hurley, OCHU’s President, says, “That leads to cutbacks in cleaning and that leads to overcrowding.”

Hurley cites overcrowding as the number one issue.

“Our hospitals in Ontario are more overcrowded than a lot of countries,” Hurley says, “The Ottawa Hospital is running at about 110 per cent capacity. Anything over 85 per cent is overcrowded.”

OCHU’s 2016 study found that most avoidable deaths are a result from diseases contracted inside the hospitals themselves, such as C. difficile (C. Diff), a disease that commonly affects elderly people in hospitals for other medical issues.

“You have patients sharing bathrooms,” Hurley says, “That’s the biggest thing that contributed to the C. difficile outbreak in Montreal a few years back.”

Tim Martin knows C. diff all too well. His father, Robert Martin, died from the disease in 2013.

“He had broken his hip in the nursing home and been sent to the hospital,” Martin explains, “He was gone within a few weeks.”

Robert Martin had contracted C. diff from a patient a few beds down from him.

“It was a small, local hospital,” Martin explains, “They didn’t have enough staff, and the ones that were there were exhausted.”

Kelsey Delesalle, a Registered Practical Nurse, experiences that exhaustion every day, working in a geriatric ward.

“I was alone on my fourth shift at my current hospital,” Delesalle says.

That wasn’t the last time Delesalle was stuck working alone, either. She often finds herself flying solo due to someone calling in sick, or just simple understaffing.

“We’re probably understaffed because we’re not paid that well,” Delesalle says, “There’s not enough money to go around.”

There’s also not enough hands to go around. Some jobs definitely require two people, she says.

“Certain patients can be what we call one person care,” Delesalle explains, “But most are two. Especially for transfers. You need two people to just move them from their bed to their wheelchair, much less onto a stretcher or to the bathroom.”

However, despite apparent understaffing and underfunding, a September 2017 study by CIHI found that the amount of Canadian doctors has grown faster than the Canadian population for decades.

Between 2012 and 2016 the number of doctors in Canada was triple the civilian population.

CIHI found that in 2016 there were 84,000 doctors in Canada, which translates to 320 per every 100,000 patients – the highest ratio in history. The previous record-breaking peak had been in 1993.

Part of that growth comes from doctors immigrating to Canada from abroad, CIHI says. 58 physicians joined Canada’s workforce from abroad during 2016.

However, nurses and cleaning staff are in short supply, according to Hurley. And that will only change if hospitals receive more funding.

“They’re still cutting the budget,” Hurley says, “We need funding that reflects the growth of our aging population.”

In the end, it all comes down to the money.