MONTREAL - “Gross negligence” is behind the fact that dozens of mostly elderly Quebecers are dying each year as a result of falls in health-care institutions, charges a prominent patient-rights advocate.

Paul Brunet, executive director of the Conseil pour la protection des malades, was commenting on the latest provincial government data on medical errors showing 73 Quebecers died from injuries sustained in falls in hospitals and nursing homes during a six-month period ending March 31.

That’s up from 24 deaths in a six-month period in 2011.

“It’s either gross negligence or stupidity,” Brunet told The Gazette on Friday.

“In either case, these deaths could have been easily prevented” by installing extra hand bars in institutions and paying more attention to at-risk patients.

A year ago, Quebec became the first province in Canada to track medical errors and to publish the data on the Health Department’s website.

A report made public July 12 shows a dramatic increase in the number of “medical accidents” – the term the government uses for errors that have harmed patients. Falls were the number-one cause of death, followed by medication mistakes.

A total of 183,738 medical accidents were recorded for the six-month period this year, up from 116,657 for the corresponding period in 2011. A total of 123 patients died as a result of a medical accident for the reported period this year, up from 75 deaths in 2011.

Health Minister Yves Bolduc said the increase reflects the fact that hospitals are reporting medical accidents more faithfully than they did just a year ago, as they had to adapt quickly to the new system of tracking errors.

“For us, this registry (of medical accidents) ... will allow us to make concrete improvements to (the health) services we are offering the Quebec population,” Bolduc said in a statement. “It also demonstrates our concern for transparency and accountability.”

Brunet agreed with the minister that there was probably underreporting of medical accidents in 2011.

“We’ll have to wait and see whether the minister is right after we get more reports in the coming years,” he said.

Brunet added the figure of 123 deaths this year “is a lot, given that one death is one death too many.”

The report does not go into detail about the precise circumstances of each medical accident or death. It also includes statistics on so-called medical incidents – which involve errors that were committed but corrected in time – considered to be “near misses.”

To consult the report, log on to http://msssa4.msss.gouv.qc.ca/

aderfel@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @Aaron_Derfel