NDP critical of ER wait times

Published on February 24, 2016 Laurie Albinet, vice-president of scientific services in the 5 Hills Health Area, talks with reporters in response to the NDP criticisms of wait times at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Medical facility on Feb. 24, 2016. Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald Danielle Chartier, NDP health critic, speaks to the media about her interest in wait times as shown in the NDP Liberty of Details request on Feb. 24, 2016 in the car park of the Western Development Museum. NDP health critic Danielle Chartier is worried about hospital records revealing people have been waiting hours at the Wigmore hospital. An NDP Flexibility of Info (FOI) demand showed that from Oct. 19 to Dec. 31, 2015, 57 emergent and immediate clients were in the waiting room for more than 2 hours at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Healthcare facility when they need to’ve be seen within 15 and 30 minutes based upon Canadian Injury and Skill State (CTAS) standards. CTAS 2 emergent clients need to see a physician within 15 minutes and CTAS 3 need to see a physician within Thirty Minutes, that includes moderate trauma, seizure, suicidal or sharp pain. “This John Black lean design and operated healthcare facility is failing clients. Can you imagine going into the hospital with a head injury or extreme injury, which is exactly what CTAS 2 is … and waiting 4 and a half hours?” said Chartier. “It’s great to say that you’re not going to have a waiting room, but that does not alter the fact that you have not put the resources in location to make sure that individuals can be seen by a doctor immediately. It does not suggest you have actually resolved things that trigger the problems in waiting rooms to begin with.” The FOI indicated that 292 CTAS 2 and CTAS 3 patients were in the waiting room for more than one hour to more than three hours. The longest wait time of a CTAS 3 patient waiting 5 hours, 47 minutes and 48 seconds on Dec. 29, 2015. “On a practically day-to-day basis, I hear stories throughout Saskatchewan from people who are having challenges in the health care that they get, whether it’s waiting in ERs or it’s healthcare companies informing us about a few of the challenges that they’re having where they’re run off their feet and not able to supply the care that people need,” said Chartier. She added that the government is spending $20 million a year on its Kaizen Promotion workplaces, but she said that money needs to be going to the cutting edge. In October, the Five Hills Health Region (FHHR) mentioned they were fulfilling provincial standards, stated Chartier. “They plainly are not fulfilling standards or whatever benchmarks they’re fulfilling are not appropriate,” she stated. However, Laurie Albinet, vice-president of medical services with the FHHR, stated since mid-October, the healthcare facility has seen virtually 5,000 patients at the emergency situation department. Health Minister Dustin Duncan said this suggests 94 per cent of the time, ER patients’ wait times have fulfilled the national standard. “Obviously we have to be concerned about those clients that fall out of that standard,” he said. “As a province, we have actually set an objective of a 60 per cent reduction in emergency situation department waits by 2019.” “We fulfill our waiting time benchmarks for the province in our emergency situation services, but that does not imply we don’t have outliers. We do have outliers, and so that is exactly what we concentrate on to look for chances to improve to serve our patients better,” said Albinet. “Benchmarks are averages. So we constantly have to remember that and standards aren’t enough often … Balances mean absolutely nothing when it comes down to one patient that has to wait or didn’t get seen timely. Those are the ones we have to pay the most focus on.” She included that the hospital keeps experiencing “occasional surges.” One such rise occurred recently, she included, and two additional nurses were appointed to emergency and a medical professional was generated from home. A few hours later, the situation was solved. She added that the wait times are “absolutely not our choice” and work is ongoing to improve emergency procedures. When clients enter emergency, the very first thing that occurs is they are examined, she said. “When they are available in, they are examined by a nurse that has unique certification in the CTAS scoring, implying that they determine the highest intense requirements that patients might can be found in with and from that assessment it’s determined whether they need to be brought right into an urgent situation for immediate response or if they are asked to sit in the waiting space if we’re complete in emergency situation or if we’re fairly complete,” said Albinet. “That first evaluation is done on everyone and there are times when they’re asked to wait in the waiting space for a while.” In some cases during the initial evaluation there is “some intervention” such as patients offered medication or have tests bought on them prior to being examined once more. All that work falls within the taped four-hour wait time and she stated that the FHHR is hitting the provincial standard. “Clearly there’s transition and turnover and so there’s training and orientation and such required, but we do not have any uninhabited positions,” stated Albinet. “We handle workload with additional staffing either from inside the health center as available or contact extra people.” *** All data is from Oct. 19, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015 at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital The federal financing minister on Tuesday revealed a $251.4-million ‘financial stabilization’ payment for Alberta. Do you believe Saskatchewan should get a comparable payment? Sr. Marie Genevieve Deverou, NDS (Sr. Dorothy Ann of Sion) Sr. Marie Genevieve, religious of… … Transcontinental Media G.P. 1100 Rene-Levesque Blvd. West, Montreal, QC H3B 4X9 -LRB-514-RRB- 392-9000 See all stories on this topic