Nova Scotia Health is warning people the emergency room at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax is experiencing “extremely high” patient volumes.
Doug Davis, 59, recently sprained his ankle and — without other options — showed up at the emergency department Monday to get a walking cast or boot and to get re-examined.
He was told the wait would be “anywhere between six to eight hours.”
“It’s packed in there,” he said. “There was about 15 people just to get in, just after I sat down.”
“There’s barely even a seat inside the hospital.”
In fact, anyone who accompanies someone to the QEII emergency room is asked not to wait with them, the health authority said in a tweet late Monday afternoon.
“While we are continuing to see new patients, our waiting room is full so we are asking anyone accompanying an emergency patient not to wait with them unless that is essential to their care,” the tweet said.
Those who do stay are asked to leave seats for patients who need them.
“As always, patients will be seen according to their triage level,” NSH wrote. “Unfortunately, patients can expect long waits for care. We apologize for these conditions.”
Dr. Kirk Magee, NSH central zone’s emergency medicine chief, said it has been a hectic day.
“The ask here is for your patience, we know that these waits are not acceptable.”
NSH also said over the weekend that it is “aware of too many situations where our staff have been subjected to abusive behaviour and language, including personal threats.”
That’s something Dr. Leisha Hawker, the head of Doctors Nova Scotia, knows all too well.
“Abuse of physicians and other health-care workers has been common for a long time, but with stress of the pandemic, we’ve certainly seen a rise in it, in my experience,” she said. “Patients are frustrated.”
But frontline workers are reminding people that’s no reason to take it out on them.
“When you’re asked to look after, normally, four patients or six patients and that gets doubled, it is concerning to our nurses and they feel bad,” said Janet Hazelton, president of the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union.
“But they know they’re not giving the level of care they would like to give.”
Health-care pressures ‘complex’
Monday’s notice of the QEII wait times comes the same day the province revealed it will be dropping all remaining COVID-19 restrictions this week. As of Wednesday, isolation for those who test positive for the virus will shift from being mandatory to “strongly recommended.”
The criteria for testing will also become more stringent. Those without symptoms will no longer be tested, and those who have symptoms but are in a low-risk category will only have access to rapid tests.
Labour shortages in the health-care sector, as well as COVID-related work interruptions, have forced emergency room closures and led to long wait times across the Maritimes.
In Nova Scotia, the province’s nurses have been demanding action to address chronic staffing shortages that they say have been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union says there are about 1,400 vacancies for registered nurses, and 250 spots open for licenced practical nurses.
When asked Monday whether dropping the restrictions would increase infections and further strain the health-care system, chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang said he didn’t anticipate it would have a major impact “in and of itself.”
“What we will be watching is like other provinces starting to see any sort of surge happening from these latest variants B.A.4 and 5,” he said.
“The pressures on our hospitals and emergency departments are complex and multifactorial. COVID would only be one of those. But we’re certainly cognizant of the role that our COVID response plays in that.”
In response to the province’s announcement it would drop remaining COVID-19 restrictions, the NDP health critic said Monday the change will “understandably” concern Nova Scotians.
“When the majority of restrictions were removed in March, we saw an increased demand on walk-in clinics, emergency departments and hospitals,” Susan Leblanc said in a statement.
“Today, we hear about people bringing lawn chairs to wait for emergency care they need, hospital units working short, and people waiting hours for paramedics. The health care system is reaching a critical breaking point; for many people working in health care or those trying to get care things keep getting worse.”
— with a file from The Canadian Press