Health-care issues stem from cuts, decades of poor planning: emergency medicine expert
Long wait times, closed emergency departments and growing waitlists for family doctors have exposed the pressures facing the health-care system this summer – specifically on emergency medicine.
Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians President Dr. Mike Howlett, who has spent almost three decades working in emergency medicine in Truro, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick, says the situation is as bad as it seems.
And it didn’t happen overnight.
“It is a crisis, make no mistake. It is a serious crisis when you can't staff departments adequately, when you can't get people into hospital, eventually bad things will happen,” he said. “Emergency departments are not the cause of the problem. They're not the sole problem. The crowding is just a symptom of this lack of planning over the last 20 or 30 years.”
He noted that the crisis stems from cuts and poor planning made decades ago --- planning that didn’t consider a growing and aging population, or the possibility of a global pandemic.
“All that ended up happening was, by being more efficient, they took the means to produce good health out of system, such that there were no redundancies left,” he said. “There's no way for parts of the system to cover for each other when there's a crisis.”
The hope now is that governments and health authorities learn from the past and plan better moving forward, something the president of Doctors Nova Scotia, Dr. Leisha Hawker, says is critical.
“We have a lot of senior family doctors in Nova Scotia, many who probably would have wanted to retire five, ten years ago and have continued to work,” she said. “So in the future, we need to do a better job of human resource planning so that we don't get into this crisis again.”
According to the Nova Scotia Health Authority, 105,187 Nova Scotians are on the Need a Family Practice Registry as of Aug. 1 — up from 100,592 on July 1.
It’s an increase of 30,000 people in less than a year. The growing wait-list can be attributed to a range of factors, from population growth to doctors leaving or retiring.
The August report states that 37.6 per cent of people said they wanted to be added to the registry because they were new to an area, and 24.7 per cent reported their provider had moved or closed their practice.
But Hawker says peoples’ health must remain most important.
“Don't delay if you do have a serious health issue because we're also seeing people avoiding the emergency departments, so we also don't want that,” she said.
Howlett says emergency room doctors and nurses want to get back to doing their jobs, the way they were trained to do them.
“It's heartbreaking to treat people in the hallway,” he said. “It's heartbreaking to see them on chairs. It's really tough, and I really would like the public to know that.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Israel attacks Iran, Reuters sources say; drones reported over Isfahan
Israel has attacked Iran, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Iranian state media reported early on Friday that its forces had destroyed drones, days after Iran launched a retaliatory drone strike on Israel.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Nearly half of China's major cities are sinking, researchers say
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Judge says 'no evidence fully supports' murder case against Umar Zameer as jury starts deliberations
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Colin Jost names one celebrity who is great at hosting 'Saturday Night Live'
Colin Jost, who co-anchors Saturday Night Live's 'Weekend Update,' revealed who he thinks is one of the best hosts on the show.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn't over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
'Shopaholic' author Sophie Kinsella reveals brain cancer diagnosis
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.