Report reveals new details about hospital wait times

WATCH: A Moncton area doctor says changes are needed in the healthcare system before wait times can decrease. Global’s Brion Robinson reports.

MONCTON – A doctor with Moncton Hospital is concerned about wait times in emergency rooms across the province.

Dr. Pam Mansfield, president of the Moncton Hospital medical staff, said she wasn’t surprised to hear a new report shows that emergency rooms in the Horizon Health Network were deemed to busy to function safely on nearly 700 different occasions.

“We deal with that day in day out,” said Mansfield. “It’s not safe to have people in hallways. If there was a fire alarm, what’s going to happen?”

Dr. Mansfield said health professionals need more free beds to better serve patients.

“I think the major thing is refocusing on how we deliver our health care and focusing on community health care needs and a big part of that would be improving the care patients receive at home from our home support workers,” said Mansfield. “There’s many of our seniors waiting in hospital for a nursing home which could be looked after at a special care home with enhanced services.”

Cecile Cassista is a senior’s rights advocate who speaks for the Coalition for Seniors and Nursing Home Residents’ Rights.  Cassista said emergency room wait times are too long for many seniors to wait to see a physician. “I’m familiar with people who have gone in and sat down for a while who have said i’m not sitting here I’m leaving.”

Dr. Mansfield said the healthcare system needs to change before the numbers will go down. “Unless we make a big change in how we deliver out health care it’s not going to change and it’s going to get worse and worse.”