Courtenay-Comox MLA Brennan Day is questioning the provincial health minister after an 11-year-old passed away at the Comox Valley Hospital - North Island in November 2024.
Day wrote a letter to Minister Josie Osborne July 8, calling for "healthcare system that listens, responds, and acts in the best interest of patients — especially children in medical distress."
He met with the family of Brayden Robbins, who passed away on Nov. 19. Robbins' parents told Day that Robbins had been brought to the hospital "with severe head and neck pain, a tilted head, and numbness in his face on November 12, Brayden was discharged without a CT scan. He returned to the emergency room six days later in a visible neurological crisis. After six hours of delays — and no pediatric transfer due to a lack of transport staff — Brayden slipped into a coma. He died the next morning from a brain bleed and hydrocephalus."
“If our system failed Brayden when the person advocating for him was a mother, a nurse with 30 years of experience, a former patient care supervisor, and a current nursing instructor, then something is fundamentally broken,” said Day. “That change must begin with leadership — and that leadership starts with the Minister of Health.”
Robbins' family set out some recommendations for change, which Day sent to Osborne. These are:
- Mandatory pediatric emergency training for all ER and pediatric staff.
- Formal family-centred communication protocols to ensure families are heard and documented.
- A unified inter-provincial patient charting system.
- Standardized use of the Provincial Transport Network (PTN) for complex pediatric cases.
- Immediate investment in pediatric transport staffing and response capabilities.
- Prioritization of pediatric-trained physicians and nurses at regional hospitals.
- Transparent audits and reviews of all unexpected pediatric deaths.
- Trauma-informed training for emergency healthcare staff.
- “Stop the Line” protocols empowering staff to intervene when safety concerns arise.
- A grief-informed family advocate role to support parents after child loss and ensure inclusion in safety reviews
“We cannot undo the past,” Day said, “but we can choose to honour Brayden’s life by making sure no other child — and no other family — is left to endure this kind of preventable tragedy. Brayden deserved better. British Columbians deserve better. Let us make sure this never happens again.”
Osborne said that there is a multi-agency review of Robbins' case, including "Island Health, BC Emergency Health Services, BC Children’s Hospital, and Child Health BC.
"My heart goes out to the family and loved ones of Brayden Robbins. No parent should ever have to experience the loss of a child, and the pain that Brayden’s parents are feeling is unimaginable for almost all of us," she said.
"We must learn from tragic cases like these and do everything possible to avoid another family having to go through what Brayden’s family is experiencing. It is critical that a thorough review is completed to examine what happened and how the system can do better," Osborne added. "It is my expectation that the family’s input be a part of this review. Action has also already been taken to strengthen BCEHS’ capacity to transport patients in need with the addition of a new night shift Critical Care Paramedic operating in the region, as of July 1.”
