A memo detailing severe staffing shortages at the Kings County Memorial Hospital drew pointed comments from Opposition health critic Sidney MacEwen in the legislature on Friday.
The Health P.E.I. memo, according to MacEwen, stated that the emergency room at the hospital is facing a lack of staff coverage over 13 days in June, including this coming Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
The Kings County Memorial Hospital closed its emergency room several times during May due to a shortage of physicians.
During Friday’s question period, MacEwen asked Health Minister Robert Mitchell what would be done to cover the staff shortages at the ER.
“I understand this memo details that we are lacking coverage on June 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th, 19th, the 22nd, the 25th, the 26th and the 29th,” MacEwen said.
“I don’t hear of other places in P.E.I. with this many closures, and I hope that the minister knows how important this is to eastern P.E.I.”
According to a statement from Health P.E.I., the ER closures were the result of one physician, who had been scheduled to work these days, now no longer being able to.
Mitchell, in his response to MacEwen’s question, acknowledged the staff shortages were a challenge, but he said they were not unique to the Kings County hospital.
“I would anticipate that other physicians from other areas, including the QEH, will step up to fill most of those spots,” Mitchell said.
Related: Montague hospital says ER policy change critical to avoid closures
Mitchell said staff at the Kings County Memorial hopes to fill in the shortages by splitting single 14-hour shifts into two 7-hour shifts.
“The member has indicated a fair number of spots, but those are out the road, down into the future. We will be dealing with other physicians from all over Prince Edward Island to determine if anybody can step up to fill in the needs that are there,” Mitchell said.
“It certainly isn’t down the road. We’re talking about Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to start with. That's not down the road. That's this weekend,” MacEwen responded.
MacEwen asked Mitchell if the province would look at expanding the scope of practice for registered nurses in Montague, allowing them to perform some tasks normally carried out by doctors, such as prescribing medication. Ontario and Manitoba currently allow RNs to prescribe some medications.
Mitchell acknowledged that expanding the scope of practices for nurses might be a possibility. But, he said it was doctors who are currently dealing with challenging schedules and heavy workloads.
“Doctors are working significantly long shifts per day when they are (conducting) their ER duty, so we’re looking at adjusting those hours for those physicians,” Mitchell said.
“What we’re trying to do is provide sustainable ER coverage for the Kings County region. There’s a vast amount of population down there that we’re trying to provide health-care service to in a very effective way.”
