'Morale is at an all-time low': N.S. respiratory services 'in crisis,' according to union

The Life Flight service for children at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax was out of service for at least 50 hours in the first three months of this year, largely due to staffing shortages of registered respiratory therapists.

Staff who participate in the Life Flight service for the IWK require specialized pediatric and neonatal training, according to a news release from the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) on Thursday.

The NSGEU says no one else in the Maritimes can transport a critically ill newborn to a higher level of care for treatment, surgery, and specialized services. They are also responsible for high-risk obstetric transports.

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The union says respiratory therapy services at both the IWK and Nova Scotia Health (NSH) are in crisis due to dire staffing shortages.

They also say these shortages are jeopardizing patient care, as some emergency services have been grounded due to a lack of trained staff.

A sign for the emergency department at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax is pictured on June 26, 2024.

“Our members have been warning NSH and IWK for more than a year that the shortage of respiratory therapists is becoming so acute that lives will be put in jeopardy,” said NSGEU 1st vice-president Hugh Gillis in the news release.

“It is now a full-blown crisis that is directly impacting patient care.”

The union says it has worked with NSH and the IWK in an attempt to help resolve these shortages, adding the province has “simply been unwilling to play a part.”

Gillis says the union is now speaking out in hopes public awareness will spur the province to finally act.

The news release from NSGEU says working conditions at the Victoria General Hospital and Halifax Infirmary sites are so bad not one of the eight graduates from the Dalhousie respiratory therapy program will take a permanent job there.

The service should have 52 permanent full-time staff in the central zone. The union says by the fall, this number will be as low as 32 full-time employees.

An unidentified man heads past the Halifax Infirmary in Halifax on Tuesday, April 24, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Due to the shortages in the central zone, management has introduced new protocols limiting respiratory therapist services.

“Senior respiratory therapists at NSH and IWK are going home at the end of their shift saying I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” Gillis said. “Morale is at an all-time low.”

Nova Scotian registered respiratory therapists are currently among the lowest paid in the country. According to the union, their counterparts in Prince Edward Island with 15 years’ experience working in acute care now earn $50.08 per hour. In Nova Scotia, registered respiratory therapists with the same amount of experience have their pay top-out at $40.65 per hour.

“Premier Houston has said that health care is his top priority, so it’s difficult to understand why his government refused to take action to address this full-blown crisis,” said Gillis, “Registered respiratory therapists are part of the critical care team for the Maritimes: emergency services are at risk.”

The NSGEU represents nearly 37,000 workers who provide public services for Nova Scotians. The union is currently in bargaining talks with the province and Nova Scotia Health.

-With files from The Canadian Press

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.