Close X
Friday, November 15, 2024
ADVT 
National

Surrey ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Sep, 2024 02:17 PM
  • Surrey ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment

British Columbia politicians are celebrating connecting more people with family doctors, but it comes as emergency room physicians at Surrey Memorial Hospital say conditions there continue to crumble.

A letter sent to the president of Fraser Health Authority Dr. Victoria Lee, and published online, warns that deteriorating conditions in the department are "unequivocally leading to substandard care" and creating an "increasingly toxic work environment."

The letter calls for "new leadership," saying wait times in the ER often exceed 12 hours and the rate of patients who leave the department without being seen has tripled to 8.4 per cent since 2020-2021.

Premier David Eby and Health Minister Adrian Dix were in Surrey, where a new hospital is being built, to announce that more than 248,000 people have been connected to a family doctor or nurse practitioner since a provincial registry was launched in July 2023.

Eby says the province is working on addressing health-care pressures by building the second hospital in Surrey and connecting more people with family doctors to reduce the need for them to go to the emergency room.

A statement from Fraser Health says it understands the seriousness of the concerns and it will be responding directly to the physicians "to address them comprehensively."

"While we have more work to do, we are pleased to report that in addition to the thousands of staff already working at the hospital, since July 2023 we posted 575 net new positions for the Surrey Memorial Hospital and Surrey communities," the statement says.

The letter from the doctors says that since 2021, staffing has increased eight per cent, while patient volumes have jumped 30 per cent.

The letter says doctors have tried dozens of times to declare a "Code Orange" when they believe the department is pushed beyond a safe level, but 24 of those 25 requests have been denied, making doctors reluctant to call for help.

"The combination of long shifts, overwhelming patient volumes, high acuity, inadequate support, compensation disparities and the invalidation of our lived experiences has contributed to significant burnout among our staff," the letter says.

"Physicians are facing exhaustion, anxiety and an overall decline in their mental health, which ultimately compromises patient care."

MORE National ARTICLES

Unknown object hits windshield, driver critical

Unknown object hits windshield, driver critical
Police in Burnaby say a driver is in critical condition in hospital after being struck by an object that crashed through their windshield along Highway 1. R-C-M-P say it happened just before noon yesterday and Highway Patrol officers were searching for the unknown object that seriously injured the driver.

Unknown object hits windshield, driver critical

Two killed in sports car crash at private B.C. racetrack: RCMP

Two killed in sports car crash at private B.C. racetrack: RCMP
Police say two people died when a sports car crashed at a luxury private motorsports club in Oliver, B.C. A statement from the RCMP says the driver of a sports car participating in a private event Wednesday at the Area 27 Motorsports Park failed to navigate a turn and hit a cement barrier at high speed.

Two killed in sports car crash at private B.C. racetrack: RCMP

Liberal government launches $1.5B program to build more co-op housing

Liberal government launches $1.5B program to build more co-op housing
Housing Minister Sean Fraser announced the launch of a $1.5-billion co-operative housing development program that the federal government promised in its 2022 budget. Fraser was in Winnipeg on Thursday to announce the program, which Liberals touted as the largest federal investment in co-op housing in 30 years.

Liberal government launches $1.5B program to build more co-op housing

Good Earth light bars recalled due to fire, burn hazards

Good Earth light bars recalled due to fire, burn hazards
Health Canada and Good Earth Lighting are recalling some rechargeable LED motion-activated light bars because they pose a fire and burn hazard. The affected light bars are 12 inches long and were sold between October 2017 and January 2024.

Good Earth light bars recalled due to fire, burn hazards

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing
A man convicted of murdering a 13-year-old Burnaby, B.C., girl has repeatedly told a pre-sentencing hearing that he didn't kill her, after refusing to listen to his interpreter during an impact statement by the girl's father. A portion of the recorded statement was being played to test equipment ahead of Friday's sentencing hearing for Ibrahim Ali, who faces a life term for the 2017 killing.

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing

Drop in drug overdose deaths

Drop in drug overdose deaths
Drug overdose deaths are down by 24 per cent between April last year and this April, but still B-C’s Coroner says 182 people died. Fentanyl remains the primary killer, with the drug detected in 82 per cent of test results for those who died so far this year. 

Drop in drug overdose deaths