Health
problems are bad enough without feeling out of the loop about your
treatment, and Fredericton activist Monica McNally is petitioning the
board of Horizon Health for an independent patient advocate to make sure
people get the answers they're seeking.
McNally
tells CHSJ News under the current system, patient advocates are hospital
employees and as a result aren't exactly impartial. She'd like to see a
totally independent advocate, like an ombudsman, to answer questions
and make sure patients are treated with respect.
She says her
son, Laurie, was misdiagnosed and treated disrespectfully by some
hospital staff as he recovered from a life-altering bowel surgery. She
says the province can't afford to make errors with people's treatment.