Shutterstock contact6/19/2023 ![]() “Amidst this situation, the government suggested a nursing pay cut. Further, the understandable frustration that is felt by patients waiting long hours to see a doctor is often directed at our frontline nursing staff. Due to significant labour shortages, their holiday requests have often been denied. “ During the pandemic, emergency nurses were mandated to work overtime at the end of already gruelling shifts. The doctors state their last critical issue, critical healthcare labour shortages, could be the result of how nurses have been treated. Sadly, these patients may suffer poor outcomes and significant morbidity.” From the patient’s perspective, languishing in the emergency department for days must be a horrific and inhumane experience. This can cause unfavourable nurse to patient ratios and competing demands for their time. “ When these patients remain in the emergency department, their care is delayed, and puts increased demands on our emergency room nurses. They say sometimes emergency in-patients (EIP) can take up to 80% of available beds as they wait for appropriate beds in other areas. This is a complex problem with multiple causes, but is exacerbated by many patients admitted to the hospital who are unable to be discharged due to a scarcity of long-term care spaces.” On the lack of hospital beds, the doctors write, “ Calgary hospitals often function at over 100% capacity. I'm searching for a family doctor in Canada and getting Beyoncé tickets is easier.Federally regulated workplaces will soon provide menstrual products free of charge.Millionaire infusing himself with son's blood to stay young has the internet shook (PHOTOS).Patients are often sicker than they would have been had they received timely and comprehensive care by a family doctor.” “ When patients are unable to access a family doctor for their medical concerns, they present to the emergency department as their last resort, seeking help. The doctors say the province is having trouble attracting doctors to Alberta and that is leading patients to come to emergency rooms for help. This is due, in no small part, to the destabilization of primary care through government policy.”Īccording to the letter, doctors have been incentivized to work in specialized roles instead of in family medicine clinics. Fast forward to today and it is estimated that 650,000 Albertans are without a family doctor. On the lack of primary care in Alberta, the Calgary doctors write, “ Four years ago we could proudly say there were enough family doctors for every Calgarian. The doctors outlined three critical concerns that need to be addressed: lack of primary care in Alberta, lack of hospital beds, and critical healthcare labour shortages. “It is now common to have 40 to 50 people waiting to be seen by a doctor at any given time.” “S ections of our emergency departments are routinely closed due to a lack of our highly skilled specialized emergency nurses,” reads the letter. In a letter signed by 192 Calgary doctors, they say “ The wait time in Calgary’s Emergency Departments has skyrocketed, with patients sometimes waiting up to 15 hours to be seen by a doctor,” and that “signs of a capacity crisis are everywhere.” Almost 200 Calgary ER doctors have come together to add their voices to the “growing concerns of the state of healthcare in our province.” ![]()
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