Hospitals in Canada have too many patients in their emergency rooms, according to the Canadian Medical Association.
The Canadian Medical Association is urging provinces and territories to revamp the healthcare system for better access. This comes as emergency rooms across the country are reportedly overwhelmed.
In a statement released on Thursday, the organization highlighted the challenges faced by both patients and healthcare professionals, emphasizing the need for comprehensive changes to the current system.
Kathleen Ross, the president of the CMA, stated in the release, “Despite the hard work of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers, stories from various regions indicate that patients in some areas are waiting as long as 20 hours or more to receive medical care.”
“Staff shortages and hospital overcrowding combined with poor access to high-quality team-based primary care are leaving hospital emergency departments woefully under-resourced for the avalanche of patients with influenza, COVID-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) at this time of year.”
Team-based primary care is an approach where healthcare professionals collaborate in an interdisciplinary team. This allows them to concentrate on their specific areas of expertise and swiftly refer patients to other team members based on their medical requirements. The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) notes that while this approach exists in some Canadian locations under various models and names, it has not been broadly adopted.
“No one wants to spend 20 hours waiting for the care they or their loved ones need,” the statement reads.
“The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) believes it is well past time to transform and rebuild the health care system, including investing upstream in team-based primary care.”
This plea for action is not a recent one—healthcare experts have been sounding the alarm about the urgent need to fix significant gaps in the healthcare system for many years. The COVID-19 pandemic added considerable strain to an already stretched and understaffed healthcare system.
Despite ongoing calls for reform, the situation continues to deteriorate. Currently, one in five Canadians lacks access to a family doctor, resulting in difficulties obtaining timely care for minor issues and receiving quality care for chronic conditions.
The CMA’s statement emphasized that the scarcity of primary care options is increasing the burden on emergency rooms. These are often being used as a substitute for primary care or walk-in clinics, rather than being reserved for genuine emergencies.
“Without concerted collaboration and focus, we will continue to endure endless cycles of deterioration of our health systems and the people working within it,”
