In an ongoing healthcare issue here in Saskatchewan, obstetrical services continue to be disrupted multiple times in multiple places.
This includes the Kindersley & District Health Centre where from July 7, 2023, to August 13, 2023, there were 37 disruptions in all. And since August 19, 2021, there have been a grand total of 73 disruptions.
Vicki Mowat, the Saskatchewan NDP’s health critic, said people should be made more aware when these closures happen, to make things easier for the expecting mothers.
“With these obstetrical closures, the government has often failed to report them publicly. So, I think the first part is being open and honest with the people of the province about what closures exist right now so that people aren't driving from hospital to hospital in the dead of winter trying to figure out where they're going to give birth.”
Mowat believes the provincial government is not being completely honest about the health plan in the province.
“Despite the fact that the Sask. Party is saying that their health plan is working, these numbers are showing us otherwise, so it falls back a lot on recruiting and retention of healthcare workers. Being able to create attractive jobs and workplaces, to make sure that once people are in those positions, they are going to stay in those positions.”
Mowat continued to explain what she thinks needs to be done to retain health workers.
“We need to question people who are leaving about what the reasons are that they're leaving. Some anecdotal information I've heard about folks that are leaving these areas include things like feeling overburdened over work, being on call too often, especially in these regional centers. If you don't have enough staff, it heavily relies on the experts that do exist.”
Mowat then provided an answer from her viewpoint on how to try and fix the ongoing issue.
“Providing active consultation with communities, listening to their needs and then making sure that the resources are available to respond to those needs. If they need an extra position, any additional financial incentive to attract someone. Those should be something that the provincial government is absolutely willing to explore. Because we know that it's so important to people to be able to give birth near their homes, near their communities, near their support centers, and that women can't schedule when they're going to give birth. It's important for the vibrancy of our smaller centers across the province to be able to have these services, to be able to support a growing population and in the community that surrounds it.”
Mowat added another way to find a solution.
“(You could do it by) Working with local communities, making sure that local communities have a voice in that recruiting and retention, and that healthcare workers can advocate for what is needed in their field as well.”
Mowat also mentioned it's too easy to make excuses for not being able to find staff to fill those positions.
“It's too easy to dismiss this and say that everyone's having problems recruiting healthcare workers when we know that we just need to actively engage with people. Listen, because often those solutions already exist locally, there are local committees that exist and are trying to provide healthcare to their community and surrounding areas.”
Mowat said a lot of money has been invested into healthcare, but when we don’t see the results of those investments, people ask questions about where that money is going and why it isn’t being directed into frontline healthcare.
Thu, May 2, 9:30 AM
