The current state of our emergency departments is unacceptable

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

It is about 12:30 am, and your daughter/son has a high fever, they are vomiting, and having trouble breathing. Your first thought as a parent; it is time for a trip to the emergency room. It is too late to call your doctor, and unlike back in the days, doctors do not make home visits. The only thing is that you know what comes with going to an emergency room; patients are prioritized based on the severity of their condition, with the most critical cases seen first. While this system is essential to ensure that the most urgent cases receive immediate attention, it can lead to longer waits for patients with less severe issues.

Emergency rooms usually have limited resources, including beds, medical equipment, and staff. Limited resources can result in delays in providing care and conducting necessary tests. Let’s be honest here; waiting in an emergency room can be a frustrating and stressful experience for patients and their families. What are the options though? You have an emergency, and you are just going to have to sit and wait.

Last week I received an email from the undersigned people of Canada, wishing to draw attention to an urgent issue that affects the health and well-being of our fellow citizens and the overall healthcare system in our country. They are urging the Canadian provincial and territorial Health Ministers to take immediate action to address the critical issues of long wait times, overcrowding and closures, and the associated harms across our nation’s emergency departments.

We know that emergency departments (ED) are a vital component of our healthcare system, the front door to our healthcare system, providing essential care to those in dire need. However, the ongoing issues of long wait times, overcrowding and closures have far-reaching consequences, endangering patients’ lives and compromising the quality of care they receive. It is the government’s responsibility, at all levels, to ensure that people living in Canada have timely access to quality healthcare services, and the current state of our emergency departments is unacceptable – for both those receiving and providing care.

There are reported harms associated with long wait times, overcrowding and closures in our emergency departments:

Delayed care: Patients experiencing life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, or severe injuries often face delayed treatment, leading to worsened health outcomes.

Patient safety and excess deaths: ED overcrowding and long wait times may be causing excess deaths potentially leading to an estimated 8,000-15,000 Canadian patients dying unnecessarily per year as a direct result of hospital overcrowding.

Increased patient, family, and caregiver suffering: Extended wait times, overcrowding and ER closures cause unnecessary suffering, anxiety, and discomfort for patients, families and their caregivers exacerbating the stress of their medical emergencies.

Workforce wellbeing: Overcrowded ED’s place immense pressure on our healthcare professionals, leading to burnout, decreased job satisfaction, and potentially compromising the quality of care they can provide.

Resource allocation challenges: ED overcrowding strains healthcare resources, diverting valuable resources away from other essential medical services and elective procedures, leading to a ripple effect throughout the healthcare system.

Economic burden: Inefficient use of healthcare resources results in higher healthcare costs for the government and taxpayers, as well as lost productivity due to patients’ extended hospital stays and recovery times.

There is this misconception that Canada’s universal health care is free. We as Canadian taxpayers pay for it through a variety of ways in the taxes we pay to the government. The government is accountable to us as taxpayers when using these funds to allow for safe, timely, quality, and accessible care.

To address these critical issues, the undersigned respectfully request the following immediate action steps proposed by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP):

• Continued bidirectional communication between CAEP and provincial health systems regarding the crisis.
• Increase hospital bed capacity to match the demands of the population and enhance inpatient flow.
• Implement effective patient flow management strategies within hospitals to reduce bottlenecks.
• Enhance support for primary care services and expand access to community-based healthcare resources.
• Facilitate seamless communication and collaboration between EDs, hospital administration and primary care providers.

Taking these steps is a minimum; the Canadian provincial and territorial Health Ministers can start alleviating the suffering of countless patients, improve the working conditions for our healthcare professionals, and ensure the long-term sustainability of our healthcare system.

Canadians are urging provincial and territorial Health Ministers to prioritize this pressing issue and take decisive action, improve transparency and accountability to address the crisis of wait times, overcrowding and ED closures in our Canadian emergency departments. The health and well-being of our fellow people depend on their commitment to acting promptly.