In a letter to the presidents and directors-general of health institutions in Quebec, and finally to the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, these emergency chiefs, united in the Regroupement des chefs d’urgence du Québec, also reaffirm this The current congestion in Quebec’s emergency departments is creating a safety vulnerability for the population by reducing access to stretchers for the sickest patients, in addition to affecting the quality of care for patients already in the emergency department.

runaway All in one morningAt the ICI premiere, Dr. Judy Morris, president of the Quebec Association of Emergency Physicians, notes that ER occupancy remains above 100%, and it isit has been bred since last spring.

We used to see spikes, but now it’s stopping.

according to dr Morris attributes much of the emergency department’s overcrowding to a lack of available beds in the hospital’s various departments or on the long-term care side.

This causes all kinds of delays in care and treatmentShe added.

According to the letter, the congestion in hospitals is not only affecting the care of the patients who need it most, but also this situation leads to hostile physical and psychological conditions for hospital staff; Emergency teams end up suffering moral suffering and distressin addition toa general feeling of helplessness.

according to dr Morris, the situation is that for several months, about 13 or 14% of hospital patients no longer need their bed but are waiting for long-term care that is not immediately available.

The observation is the same whether it is the writers of the letter or Dr. Morris acts: With bed closures in specialist departments and in long-term care due to a lack of resources, a domino effect is occurring, leading to emergency rooms being staffed well beyond their capacity. Partly with not only stretchers in the corridors, but downright bedridden patients in the waiting room.

Which solutions?

In their letter, the emergency managers demand in particular that the lack of staff should no longer be a reason to close beds in the nursing stations or on the long-term care side.

Signatories are also calling for an end to the practice of diverting ambulances to the emergency rooms of less-busy hospitals, which they say is causing overcapacity problems at those same hospitals.

Finally, among other measures, we also propose to set up a public information program designed to inform the population about the actual emergency capacity of an area and adjust user expectations.

These demands are very similar to those put forward last June, which also recommended using day surgery units, recovery rooms and ambulances to accommodate patients in an overcrowded situation or to wait on hospital floors for a bed.

The same proposed solutions are also supported by the Association of Emergency Nurses of Quebec and its President, Guillaume Fontaine.

The latter is reminiscent Risk and problem management is typically focused in the emergency department.

It’s a small bottleneckhe believes.

Mr Fontaine marginally regretted the loss of expertise due to the departure of nurses and emergency managers. It takes three years to train such a specialized nurse, he recalled, since arriving at the emergency room.

A government crisis team

Health and Welfare Minister Christian Dubé will provide an update at 1 p.m. on the difficult situation in Quebec’s emergency departments.

Mr. Dubé announced last week create a cell to overcome the emergency crisis. Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services and chief executives from Greater Montreal facilities sit on the committee, which met for the first time last Thursday.

Among the members of this group we find Dr. Mauril Gaudreault, President of the College of Physicians; dr Shannon Fraser, Medical Director of the Command Center of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal; Delphine Alberto, Head Nurse for Emergencies at Santa Cabrini Hospital; dr Pierre Gfeller, President and CEO, McGill University Health Center; and dr Lucie Opatrny, Deputy Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Health.