‘Find our own solutions:’ Regina mother talks frustrations as specialist leaves

As of this month, Saskatchewan no longer has a pediatric gastroenterologist — a gut doctor for children — and families are scrambling to find care for their kids.

Some families have lost their doctor, but Sarah Turnbull’s four-year-old daughter Blake never had one. The wait list for the only specialist in the province was so long, Turnbull said her daughter has never seen one here.

“All of that has been a process. All of that has been parent-led in advocacy. We really have to find our own solutions to make sure she’s getting the health-care needs that she has met.,” explained Turnbull.

The pair were at the Legislature on Monday, two days after returning from a nearly week-long trip to Edmonton for a surgery for Blake. In a month, they’ll have to go back for her after-care.

This isn’t the first time they’ve had to leave the province; the pair have been to Toronto for care as well.

“It’s taking time off of work, it’s uprooting our life (and) it’s taking away our support systems,” said Turnbull.

It’s just really not the same medical services here in Saskatchewan as there is in other provinces, and that’s not right.”

While the province has paid for the medical services, Turnbull has had to pay out of her own pocket for the travel and accommodations.

Other parents have talked about their frustration with the loss of the pediatric gastroenterologist and they believe she left because she was burned out from the gigantic workload she had as the only such specialist in a province of more than one million people.

The provincial government and Saskatchewan Health Authority are working to find new specialists but Turnbull said they need to do better when it comes to supporting them to get them here. She said she’s talked to the specialists she’s seen across the country.

“All those doctors are very passionate about their job, they’re there (and) it’s their lifestyle. They don’t care if they get a little bit money or less, they care about having the tools to do their job, they care about having a life balance where they can see their own kids, they care about not being left alone (and) they care about being able to have OR time to see their kids,” she said.

The way things are now, Turnbull said the specialists are being set up to fail.

“The doctors, the staff (and) the nurses are amazing. They’re doing more work as one person. They’ll take your calls at 3 a.m. We have had doctors who we’ve seen 10 days in a row. They don’t get a break, but that’s partly the problem,” said Turnbull.

Vicki Mowat, the Saskatchewan NDP’s health critic, said it’s incredibly disappointing that the province hasn’t found a solution. She found out in August the gastroenterologist was leaving, so she said the doctor gave lots of notice.

Mowat said there aren’t any plans to help parents – they’re dealing with it themselves and paying for expenses out of pocket – and there isn’t real care available in this province.

“While (the provincial government is) claiming that we’re in a competition with other provinces, they haven’t taken steps to demonstrate that they know that. They haven’t followed through with that in any way,” said Mowat.

She said the government should be talking to people who are leaving to find out why, and then fix those problems to keep other health-care workers. She said, knowing how burned out the last specialist got, the government let the situation get so bad that anyone coming in to fill those shoes knows there are way too many patients for one specialist.

“When you have a wait list that’s six years long, you’re not feeling like you’re serving your patients,” said Mowat.

Health Minister Paul Merriman defended the government’s actions on this file, saying it’s a problem the government has been working on and it’s a top priority for the new recruitment agency. But

Merriman seemed to disagree they’ve been having a problem with it.

“It’s a challenge to recruit this position but we’re making sure that we put our best foot forward,” said the minister.

He said they’re looking for three people in this position and put $2.5 million into the team dynamic for that specialty in this spring’s budget.

“We are investing in this as a government and as taxpayers. We know the importance of this,” said Merriman.

In the meantime, Merriman said the government has brought in some locum coverage, with pediatric specialists coming in for a few days from another province to help meet some of the needs and then going back home. He said it’s not ideal, but it’s what’s in place right now.