An Ontario family is asking the provincial government to enter legislation that establishes the waiting times of the maximum emergency room for children after their teenage son died after an eight -hour wait in a doctor in a hospital last year.
GJ and Hazel Van Der Werken, from Burlington, Ontario, said that his 16 -year -old son, Finlay, had a few days of mild disease and suffered from migraines before his condition began to get worse. Hazel took him to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital on February 7, 2024, he said.
“We go to the normal emergency department that was full of many people, only the entire corridor was full of people in chairs,” Hazel recalled in an interview on Thursday. “That’s where Finlay was screaming with pain.”
He was trieted quickly, he said, which gave him the hope that he would see in the doctor “at any time.”
“But ‘any time’ became eight hours and 22 minutes,” said Hazel.
Those eight hours were felt as “a constant state of terror,” he said, noting that the couple then learned that Finlay’s oxygen levels quickly deteriorated during the wait. Little by little, Finlay became quieter, he said.
“Basically surrendered,” GJ said. “No one was helping him.”
When Finlay was finally evaluated by a doctor, she was diagnosed with hypoxia and pneumonia caused by sepsis, said Hazel. He was intubated and finally transferred to the Sickids hospital in Toronto, where he was placed on machines to take care of the functions of his heart, lungs and kidneys.
“No improvements were made, he was still going worse, to the point where the doctor called us and said there is no possibility that Finlay will get out of this,” GJ said.
The family decided to perform legal measures after the death of their son
After Finlay died, the family decided to perform legal actions. They didn’t want to remain silent about what happened to their son, GJ said.
“The long waiting times are apparently normal, and nobody seems to fight against this,” GJ said. “Since Finlay cannot express his concerns, his wishes, his demands, we are forced to have to speak for him and try to do everything possible to prevent this from happening to other people.”
Earlier this year, the family filed a lawsuit against Halton Healthcare Services, which operates Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and several other defendants. Among the accusations is that it had an “inappropriate system” to ensure that patients such as Finlay were seen by an appropriate doctor, and that they did not have enough personnel to monitor patients in the emergency department.
Halton Healthcare says he is working to improve attention
A statement by Halton Healthcare expressed condolences to Finlay’s family, but said that the organization does not comment on individual cases of patients for privacy reasons.
“Like many hospitals, we are seeing more patients who have increasingly complex health conditions and comorbidities, often requiring longer and more intensive care,” said Cheryl Williams, executive vice president of clinical operations and nursing director, in the statement. “This imposes a significant demand for our emergency departments, patient flow, bed availability and patient experience.”
Halton Healthcare said he is “actively advancing” of several measures to improve patient care, including new policies to address the volume and communication of the patient.
Death due to the long waiting times considered ‘not acceptable’
But Finlay’s story shows a major problem in the province’s health system, said Hazel. The family has heard stories of others who have lost their loved ones due to the long waiting times of the hospital, which according to her “was not acceptable.”
The family has requested a forensic investigation into Finlay’s death, he said. They are also asking the province to promulgate what they have proposed as “Finlay Law”, legislation that would establish the greatest waiting times of the emergency room for children and demand safe personnel relationships, among other measures.
“For the Finley classification level, it should have been within 15 minutes that was seen after being TRIED. We are not even close,” said Hazel. “With so many patients, and with patients with that high level of classification, it is not sustainable … worse than not sustainable, it led to the death of Finley.”
Earlier this week, the family launched a petition to call the Ontario government that approves its proposed law, which would also include independent reviews of pediatric deaths in emergency rooms and better financing for pediatric emergency care.
“Children are not small adults; they deteriorate faster, they require doses and specialized equipment, they often cannot advocate themselves,” says the petition. “Without required standards, they remain at greater risk in a tense system.”
The Ontario Ministry of Health says the case of Finlay ‘deeply tragic’
When asked about the law proposed by the family, the Provincial Ministry of Health described the case of Finlay “deeply tragic and unacceptable.”
“The Ministry of Health expects each hospital to maintain the highest level of patient care and meet the requirements under the law of public hospitals related to the response and review of critical incidents to ensure that they never happen again,” he said.
In a statement. “We also hope that hospitals reveal the findings of this review with impacted patients or their family.”
For Finlay’s family, much of her frustration comes from lack of action in hospital waiting times, said Hazel, and how her son’s death has caused her distrust and fear of the medical care system.
“We are focusing on the children at this time because that is where our hearts broke, but concern everyone. I am terrified that any of us get sick and need to go to the hospital,” said Hazel.
“I am exhausted by telling our story. But if we don’t do this, do you continue the problem until the next time it happens?”
