Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital — Local services in Oakville

My dad was admitted to OTMH on 6/30 and 7/23 for pneumonia, and then on 8/17 for cirrhosis and passed away on 8/23 at OTMH.

Misdiagnose – AFTER his death, I was told by the hospital that my dad had lung cancer which was the actual cause of his death. Despite all the medical test/imaging in his first two hospital stays for pneumonia; such a lung cancer was NOT diagnosed. The lung specialist refused our request of having a lung scope which would likely to diagnose the lung cancer earlier, and insisted my dad’s overall heath’s declining was NORMAL as a pneumonia recovery phase.

Harmful treatment – On 8/17, my dad got 5L ascites drained at ER, nobody ever explained the risk of it nor asked for patient/family’s signature for the procedure. On 8/23, the kidney doctor told us my dad’s kidney was damaged, and one of the possible reasons was the 5L ascites drained on 8/17.

Ineffective treatment to the lung and liver problems – Without knowing the root cause of the pneumonia, the doctors were shooting in the dark. Similarly, even with the ascites test result showed no infection, my dad was given antibiotics since day1 in his 3rd hospital stay, then a different antibiotic was given 2 days before my dad passed. It proved the treatment was NOT effective at all.

Delayed diagnose/treatment – Four days in a row, the doctor/nurses kept trying to insert the catheter as they thought my dad had problems getting rid of the urine. Until day5, a urologist came and confirmed that there was NO urine in my dad’s bladder at all, the care givers clearly misread the “bladder scan’s result” which was likely the new built-up ascites. It was TOO LATE to involve the kidney doctor then.

Unprofessional health care providers – The reason for my dad’s 3rd visit was cirrhosis and serve ascites, we were told that the liver specialist will follow up with him from day 1 until my dad’s last day, but the liver specialist never showed up.

Lack transparency and trust – During my dad’s 3rd hospital stay (8/17 – 8/23), the first 4-5 days we were told that my dad was STABLE. Even on the day before my dad’s death (8/22), what I learned from the doctor was that the new type of antibiotics worked and my dad was BETTER than 1 day ago. Table flipped on 8/23, and everyone told me “Your dad is very sick, he may just want to pass.”

It was heart broken seeing my dad was admitted but still in a relatively stable health condition on 8/17, but then passed away on 8/23 just in a week.

[How did Halton patient-relationship handle the complaint? NOT a CLEAR or TRANSPARENT process]

I was told the investigation will take 1-2 weeks, since it was VACATION season for doctors. The patient-relationship contact who is responsible for my case will also be on VACATION for a week. a. People need vacations, but what's a SLA to solve a complaint properly?

I was told the lung specialist who provided diagnose/treatment to my dad was the “lead doctor” and will review the complaints with me. a. Having the doctor who was complained against to be involved in the complaint review/triaging meeting – Is it a fair and transparent process? I’m fine to have him presented, but we also need someone who can stand in a neutral and fair position to drive the investigation.

The patient-relationship contact said that, even if there were something missed/mistaken in the health care my dad received, it would not change the end result (my dad's passing). a.This should not be an excuse of misacting in the health care provided.

I was judged by the contact “Whenever you talked with Dr. xxx, you had more questions”. a. It was ONLY once, I got a call FROM the doctor after my dad's death telling me about my dad's lung cancer. Clearly, the patient-relations department do NOT welcome questions as they advertised through...

If I could give this hospital less than 1 star, I would. Our newborn had a fall & hit his head. We rushed to the closest hospital. The triage nurse saw us immediately. Then they sent us to a different area to see the doctor. We waited approximately 2-3 hours before we were told we would need to wait at least another 6 hours 52 minutes! Explaining our newborn was under 1 month and didn’t even have his first vaccines got us no where. They told me to wait in the breastfeeding room and I asked whether they would notify me when it was my turn and it seemed they hadn’t even thought of this. I expect if I had done this my baby would have been forgotten or his space given up after such a long wait. I understand prioritizing urgency. However, a newborn cannot afford to be exposed to viruses and bacteria as a fever would then land them right back in the ER. A hospital should be aware of this. A newborn with a potential head trauma should not have to wait over 10 hours to be seen by a doctor (who would or would not at that time decide if further tests would be needed, therefore increasing the time before treatment). The nurses did do an initial assessment (twice because we had already waited such a long period of time and they were wondering if his condition had degraded…) and I have the utmost respect for nurses but they are also not physicians and can provided little insight (ex. Would an X-ray or CT be necessary; is it possible there is internal damage, etc.). The most disappointing part was that no one was going to even tell me about the wait time, just let us wait for likely over 10 hours! They kept telling me it’s my choice to wait or go and then when I decided to try another hospital, the nurse repetitively asked if I was going to have our newborn checked out at a hospital, almost as though they were trying to shame me into making sure I went to the hospital. This should have been the hospital that saw our child. It should not have been 2-3 hours after coming to the ER and 2.5-3.5 hours after the injury that we then had to drive over 20 mins to a different hospital.

I would highly recommend NOT going to this hospital, specially if you have a newborn. Or if you do, immediately ask where you are in the queue. It’s your choice to stay or go to another hospital and no one will volunteer how long you have to wait.

We ended up going to St. Joes (Toronto). We were expedited for registration and seen by a doctor in 30 minutes afterwards. St. Joes had a ER paediatric ward but it’s closed due to Covid. Despite that and despite the fact that there were easily quadruple the number of people waiting than in Oakville hospital, all children appeared to be expedited. Completely different experience.

If my newborn gets COVID, the flu, whatever, I know it’s because of this hospital. Absolutely shameful and although in part this is our failing health care system, I lay the blame more on the hospital itself and it’s lack of policy and procedure. It’s a simple matter to inform a waiting parent of wait times or offer alternatives like a different space to stay.

By the way, I’ve noticed the hospital sends the same copy and paste response about contacting their customer relations team. Please do not be fooled. My partner contacted the number which went directly to voicemail. I’m not sure what else they want to talk to me about either as everything is very clearly laid out in this very long and...

I am giving 5 stars for the stellar care given after finally receiving some pain medication. I am giving NO STARS for the so-called " triage" process. I have not been to the emergency department for at least 25 years. I arrived at 2 pm on Tuesday. My husband went to park the car. There was a lineup with about 6 people in front of me. The volunteer Joan ( 6 stars for Joan and her kindness) brought me a chair as she saw I was about to collapse. I was in extreme pain from what I suspected and later confirmed was a kidney stone. Now, for those of you who have never had a kidney stone, the pain was worse than when I gave birth, drug free. Joan could see my pain and went to triage to let them know, but no one responded. I was shaking, sweating, and barely coherent. My husband had to hold my head and was doing his best to comfort me. Slowly, the line moved, and we were finally called in by a triage nurse. At this point, my pain is close to unbearable, and I am spread eagle in the chair with my head back, again, sweating and shaking. My husband tells me she barely looked at me with no acknowledgment of my obvious pain. She asked questions and typed like a robot. We were then asked to wait in a small area for the nurse who attaches the hospital bands. We were called in by her, and she asked my husband if I was usually cold, clamy, and sweaty? ( now remember, I am spread eagle on the chair head back and barely coherent). My husband held his anger and responded, " Obviously not. She is in extreme pain." Hospital bands are attached, and we are sent back to the small waiting area to await blood work. I barely remember this happening. Bloodwork is now done, and we are taken into the ER waiting area. My husband leaves my chart in the basket, and we wait. My pain is unrelenting, so my husband approaches the nursing station to find out about pain meds. We must wait for a nurse to be assigned. We are finally taken to a bed in the hallway. A nurse inserts an IV while I am about to vomit from the pain. He was amazing. Soon, another nurse ( also amazing) gave me a dose of toradol, and within half an hour, my pain is controlled. This is more than 2 hours since arriving at emergency. The staff in the ER were fantastic. I am relaying this experience because I want to know why you call it "triage" when it is obviously just a lineup. I worked in pharmacy for 30 years. I know the system is broken, and healthcare professionals are drained. I know how difficult it can be dealing with patients. I had to retire early myself from burnout. I get it. I don't expect special treatment, hand holding, or coddling. I understand about the wait, and I waited quietly, relieved to be out of pain, BUT to ignore someone at triage in that kind of pain...