Emergency room disruption represents systemic failure, NDP critic says

A temporary service disruption at Saskatoon City Hospital’s emergency department represents “systemic failures,” according to Saskatchewan NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat.

A social media post from Wednesday morning showed a notice from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) a day earlier saying service at the City emergency department would be limited.

Yesterday Saskatoon experienced it’s first ‘partial’ closure of an emergency department for 3 hrs. If you presented w/ a concern which you felt was an emergency, you likely would’ve been turned away after 5pm. This is a huge red flag for a sick health care system. pic.twitter.com/hB1XKgKKRR

— Brittany Ellis (she/her) (@BrittJEllis) January 3, 2024

“We have physicians saying that this is a huge red flag,” Mowat said Wednesday.

She added it was the first time she has seen a disruption like this in a major centre like Saskatoon or Regina.

In an emailed statement sent Wednesday, the SHA said service was limited from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The email also said service resumed at 9 a.m. Wednesday and no further service reductions were anticipated.

The SHA also said the service reduction stemmed from a temporary shortage of emergency department physicians due to illness.

“During this limited service reduction, patients continued to be triaged by emergency department staff and an emergency department physician remained on site to assess, treat and support patients,” the statement read.

“A sign was posted on the entrance to advise that individuals presenting to the Saskatoon City Hospital emergency department may be assessed and then referred to either Royal University Hospital or St. Paul’s Hospital, if required.”

In November, the province announced a plan designed to alleviate pressure at Saskatoon hospitals and a similar plan for Regina’s hospitals was unveiled in December. Mowat says the incident at City Hospital on Tuesday shows the plans aren’t working.

“It just shows that our health system is going in the wrong direction,” she said.

Mowat also voiced her support for a call by the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses for the province to create a task force to help deal with working conditions in hospitals.

“They’re offering to help and to give advice and to be involved in planning and haven’t been consulted,” Mowat said.

Mowat also said that would help the province retain health-care workers.

“We don’t have a plan on how to retain people,” she said. “We’re not actively exploring why people are leaving. We’re not doing the exit interviews to find out why health-care workers aren’t staying in our province (or) aren’t staying in the profession, and then doing the work to change that.

“So as a result, we have understaffing and understaffing is at the heart of so many of these (disruptions).”

Mowat added these disruptions don’t just affect Saskatoon, they affect many communities across Saskatchewan.

Mowat said according to an information request obtained by the Saskatchewan NDP, 53 hospitals across the province experienced service disruptions and closures over the past four years.

980 CJME reached out to the provincial government for comment, but hadn’t heard back by the time of publication.