The union representing paramedics in the Peterborough, Ont., area is sounding alarm over claims of down-staffing ambulances.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4911 says down-staffing of ambulances — where a paramedic’s shift is not staffed — is “becoming the norm” for Peterborough County-City Paramedics (PCCP) services.
An increase in calls for ambulances is partly attributed to a spike in the population in the area during the summer months, the union notes.
The union claims down-staffing, exacerbated by longer offload delays at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre, has led to fewer ambulances on the road than is provincially required and sees situations where paramedic crews are forced into overtime since they cannot leave the hospital without handing over care to the emergency room.
“Already, a weekend in June saw several paramedics stay on shift for 16 hours (maximum allowed) to cover unstaffed ambulances,” the union stated.
In a statement, Local president Natalie Waters says the trend is creating a “dangerous precedent” of longer wait times for patients to be pickup by an ambulance and taken to hospital. The union notes the closest ambulance will always be sent, however, it could be an out-of-jurisdiction ambulance including the City of Kawartha Lakes EMS and Northumberland EMS.
“The paramedics sector across Ontario is facing a staffing crisis in health care,” stated Waters, a front-line paramedic. “CUPE 4911 is calling on Peterborough Paramedics to improve working conditions to make Peterborough a desirable destination for new recruits. With a staffing shortfall across the province, Peterborough County will need to improve working conditions for paramedics, not make them worse.”
PCCP community programs deputy chief Craig Jones says paramedics aren’t alone in the challenges facing health care.
“It’s not just paramedics — it’s hospitals, it’s nursing homes, it’s primary care,” he said. “It’s every piece of the health-care system that is experiencing these challenges.”
Jones notes the PCCP hired 30 new paramedics last year, eight of whom are operating an additional 24-hour ambulance service in the fleet.
He also says the province provided over $8.7 million in funding earlier this year — up nearly $500,000 from the year prior.
“We’ve hired 16 paramedics in non-traditional roles and the attempt of those roles is to mitigate 911 usage, emergency department usage,” he said. “Those are things like our paramedics that work at the safe consumption site, our paramedics that are part of a mobile outreach support team.”
In June, the paramedics service provided county council with a report highlighting its 10-year master plan which included building a new ambulance base in Cavan-Monaghan Township south of the city. The report noted the time spent at the hospital for urgent calls increased from 33 minutes in 2020 to more than 42 minutes in 2022. In 2021, call volumes jumped 12.8 per cent in the county.
“The Peterborough County-City Paramedic Services relies on part-time paramedics to keep the service functioning,” Waters said, “and the majority of Peterborough County-City paramedics that work part-time also work for other services. They are in high demand, so we need to give them a reason to choose Peterborough.”
Jones says another staff recruitment phase is starting “almost immediately” after the recent one just completed. He says it’s all in an effort to improve ambulance response and offload times and to improve their paramedics’ work/life balance.
“We do everything we can to get them home, on time, get them their time off, respect their privacy and their personal time as well as their work time,” he said.
— with files from Robert Lothian/Global News Peterborough
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