Penny-pinching cause of delay?

On March 20, there was a commentary by Dr. Des Colohan concerning the Emergency Room service at the QE hospital. Dr. Colohan’s remarks were spot on. Many of us have experienced the same treatment. I was recently at the ER and after spending my obligatory four-plus hours I left. I did not notify staff I was leaving since they did not seem to care a whit for me. Other than the silly information board in the upper left corner of the waiting room, which serves no useful purpose, we sat like bumps on a log hoping someone was still working behind the sliding doors. My wait allowed me to reflect on how poorly the whole operation seemed to be managed. Is it possible the slow process is a failure of the computer system used by the doctors to record their findings on each patient? Is there any truth to the comment that the medical staff take more time to record their findings in the computer than they have spent with their patient?

I understand when the computer system was being introduced there was liaison with the medical staff on the selection of which computer system to acquire. I understand the doctors requested a quicker system that would be best for the hospital but the government of the day and their bureaucrats were more interested in a less expensive model. Are we now paying for that pennypinching scheme?

Does the Prince County Hospital experience the same delays?

Lloyd C. McKenna, Charlottetown