Across Canada, patients with poor kidney function who are at much higher risk of heart disease and life-threatening complications are treated in multi-disciplinary kidney clinics. In these clinics, specialized kidney doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dieticians and social workers work together to meet patient healthcare needs to prevent complications. The stated goal of these clinics is to improve patient health outcomes (especially from cardiovascular disease), preserve kidney function, and prepare patients for life-saving dialysis or kidney transplantation.

From March 2016 onward, Ontario Renal Network and the Ministry of Health along with regional hospitals, eliminated access to these clinics for thousands of patients. Patients were only eligible for care in these clinics if they had much lower kidney function or a higher risk of kidney failure. Unfortunately, these changes were applied broadly without appropriate clinical trial evidence that patient health, safety and survival would not worsen. The province of Alberta would later make similar changes.  

These changes were implemented through regional hospitals who have a duty to ensure patient safety was not being put at risk. After this change, an Auditor General of Ontario report concluded that most patients do not receive the recommended amount of care from these specialized kidney clinics.  With this decision, kidney patient safety for thousands of ineligible patients was put at risk and qualified professionals (including doctors, administrators and patients) have been requesting to properly investigate this decision and its true patient impact.  

We request the following be immediately implemented and advanced:

1.      A PUBLIC INQUIRY BE COMMISSIONED into the decision-making process and contributing factors and the process of implementation across all regional hospitals. This inquiry should be transparent, have appropriate scope and broad investigative powers, and include a complete and proper analysis of all potential negative consequences to kidney patients across national, provincial and regional jurisdictions. This should be performed by reputable individuals outside of the health care systems that adopted the reduced eligibility criteria who are free of any potential conflicts of interest. 

2.      INSTITUTIONAL PRESERVATION AND RELEASE OF INFORMATION – from all institutions involved (in the administration, delivery, funding and regulation of health care services, research and professionals) in affected jurisdictions. These institutions should be required to preserve all documents and patient information since the creation of the Ontario Renal Network in 2009 and be required to immediately release documentation related to the implementation of the reduced eligibility criteria dating back to 2016.

With your support of this petition, we aim to ensure that:

1.      Canadian kidney patients who were removed from eligibility for this care can have appropriate accountability and transparency from a healthcare system that is supposed to protect their safety - not put it at risk.

2.      To prevent any such similar occurrence within any healthcare system of a “shoot first and ask questions later” approach to medical care that put so many kidney patients at risk.