The Saskatchewan NDP is sounding the alarm over prolonged wait times for health care in the province’s four largest cities.
A news release from the Opposition says leaked safety reports compiled by the Saskatchewan Health Authority suggest hospitals in Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, and Prince Albert are reporting widespread overcapacity issues, ‘high safety risks’ and ‘very high safety risks.’
The documents also indicate that some patients are waiting over three days for care after arriving at the hospital, with one report detailing a 91 hour wait time at Regina General.
On Sunday, the NDP says there were wait times of nearly 70 hours at the Regina General Emergency Department. Meanwhile, the Regina Pasqua Hospital was reported wait times of 84 hours for care. And the official opposition said at Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert, patients were waiting 41 hours, while the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital in Moose Jaw saw wait times of 33 hours for care.
The NDP also pointed to Saskatoon’s City Hospital which they say was short 10 medical care beds and reporting a ‘very high safety risk’.
Meara Conway, NDP Health Critic, says “We know that the holiday season is often incredibly taxing on our hospitals. These tracking reports are jarring and I fear the worst may be yet to come.”
In response to these claims, the SHA has released a statement. Derek Miller, Chief Operating Officer at the SHA says “Wait times included in the report referenced measure the time from patient registration to discharge from the emergency department. These wait times do NOT represent the time patients wait to be assessed by a physician. Hospitals across the province respond to patient ebbs and flows. The SHA monitors emergency department and acute care capacity across all hospital sites in the province on a continuous, real-time basis to support system-wide decision making, including transport decisions for patients who require a higher level of care or transfer to home hospital. This monitoring includes overall hospital occupancy, patients identified for admission and those being monitored in emergency departments. A scoring system is used to assess levels of risk and to guide appropriate actions at different thresholds.”
