FOG BLOG MARITIME LOG: WOMAN SHOULD NOT HAVE DIED IN AMHERST N.S. ER- PUBLIC DESERVE EXPLANATION!

Public deserves explanation for woman's death in Amherst ER, says patient safety expert 'This kind of incident undermines trust in health care services very broadly,' says Dr. Rob Robson The death of a 37-year-old woman in hospital is raising questions about the public's right to know about the health-care system and legislation to keep health information confidential.

Allison Holthoff died after seven hours in the Amherst emergency department. Patient safety expert Dr. Rob Robson says the public deserves an explanation.

"This kind of incident undermines trust in health-care services very broadly. Not just that family, but people who know them and people in that community who will wonder, 'Is this going to happen to me?'" he said from Dundas, Ont.

A "quality review" investigation into the circumstances has been launched to improve the system, but — by law — almost everything about it will be kept from the public.

Nova Scotia Health says these reviews are conducted whenever there is a "serious reportable event involving someone who has had contact with the health care system."

The process is confidential, including any "information in any form that is communicated for the purpose of or created in the course of carrying out a quality improvement activity."