Sask. government grilled over hallway medicine
One hospital has adapted by installing a permanent call light in a unit corridor
At least one unit at Saskatoon’s St. Paul’s Hospital has installed a permanent call light for patients in one of its hallways as a result of overcapacity issues, according to a union letter sent to the province.
SEIU-WEST president Barbara Cape sent a letter on Nov. 22 to Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone, Health Minister Jim Reiter and Rural and Remote Health Minister Warren Kaeding, raising concerns about what she called “hallway care.”
Cape wrote that the installation of the call lights in unit 5B at St. Paul’s “sends the message that hallway care has become the normal provision of care in the system.”
Speaking to reporters after question period on Wednesday, Reiter said a hospital manager had the lights installed “out of an abundance of caution” because the area is sometimes used for overflow “and if the lights are there it will be safer for patients.”
In her letter, Cape also cited 52 reports filed by hospital workers since Oct. 9 about understaffing at the recently-opened Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.
She said those reports included comments about equipment not working and unsafe backup power supplies, as well as various concerns related to a lack of training and workload management for staff.
SEIU-WEST represents licensed practical nurses, front-line health aids and schedulers.
The letter was sent to NDP health critic Vicki Mowat, who raised it Wednesday during question period at the Saskatchewan legislature.
“When a patient in a hallway has a fever, the answer shouldn’t be more call-bell,” Mowat said.
Reiter insisted Saskatchewan Health Authority leadership had access to resources beyond their current budget to help manage the capacity crisis. He said efforts over the past several weeks had the problem “trending in the right direction.”
Mowat said that despite Reiter’s claims about resources, it didn’t appear anything was being added.
“Does (Reiter) think this sounds like a hospital and a care team that has enough resources?” Mowat asked.
Reiter called for perspective, noting the Pattison is a “state-ofthe-art” medical facility that only recently opened.
Throughout this legislative session, the Opposition NDP has repeatedly raised issues around hospital staffing and patient care. Previously, they’ve pointed to a patient languishing for a week in a hallway in a Regina hospital and to highlight a patient death in a Saskatoon emergency room that the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses said was linked to understaffing.
The NDP also raised the issue of a purported “hush memo” circulated by SHA leadership warning staff to avoid logging sensitive subject matter in meeting minutes.
In Wednesday’s question period, Reiter accused the Opposition of engaging in “gotcha politics” on the health care file by seemingly producing “secret memos” every week.