The chronic lack of staff, especially at the Suroît hospital, puts the care offered to the population at risk, believes the Union of healthcare professionals of Montérégie-Ouest, which has sent a formal notice to the interim CEO of the CISSS. , Tuesday.
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According to the union, “the establishment contravenes certain articles of the Act respecting health services and social services by not offering safe care that respects people’s rights and it does not take into account the resources available in determining its service offer ”.
The emergencies of the Suroît hospital had an occupancy rate of 150% on Tuesday. And 18 people had been staying there for more than 48 hours, by far the highest number in Quebec. Two floors of the hospital are currently closed and will remain so all summer due to a lack of staff to work there.
The president of the union, Mélanie Gignac, says that the Suroît hospital has had a staff shortage for months. “Currently, the hospital is operating with 50% of the staff it would need,” she said. Although two floors of 36 beds each are closed for the summer, one for medicine and one for surgery, Mr.me Gignac is worried about the next few weeks.
I don’t know how we’re going to get through the summer. […] We are already driving with overtime and compulsory overtime everywhere. And despite that, we do not arrive.
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Mélanie Gignac, president of the union of healthcare professionals of Montérégie-Ouest
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Mme Gignac believes that by being unable to set up large enough care teams, the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest “is violating its responsibility to provide safe patient care”. In the emergency room of the Suroît hospital, “management lets the healthcare professionals work on a regular basis with 8, 10, 12 and even 14 less healthcare professionals than what would be necessary to provide quality and safe care to patients. patients, ”the union said in a statement.
Solutions ?
The crisis at Suroît hospital has been going on for months. To rectify the situation, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, appointed Lise Verreault as interim CEO on April 28.
For the union, solutions are slow to come: “Since the arrival of Mr.me Verreault, things haven’t changed. Many meetings, many discussions, but our requests and possible solutions remain unanswered. “
At the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, they say they have “acknowledged receipt of the formal notice” and “evaluated the possible avenues”.
We are aware of the precarious situation of the workforce at the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, its criticality and the strong pressure on the teams. We assure you that we are working on all fronts to improve the situation and ensure safe care and services in our hospitals.
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Jade St-Jean, spokesperson for the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest
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This emphasizes that the closure of certain hospital beds is precisely aimed at “reducing the impact on staff”. Other actions are also carried out, such as the rapid transfer of patients waiting for a place in a CHSLD, the recruitment of manpower and the temporary revision of the surgical service offer.
Urgent surgeries and oncological surgeries can still be performed at the Suroît hospital, as can day surgeries. But some other types of operations have been redirected to other hospitals for the summer. The staff working on the closed floors will be relocated to the other floors of the hospital in order to “optimize the use of resources, which will prevent further discoveries”, notes Mme St-Jean.
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