Expect more short-term health-care crises if N.L.'s fundamental problems aren't fixed, say critics

One of the minds behind the provincial Health Accord says there are fundamental problems leading to the most recent health-care pressures that have caused emergency rooms and hospitals to overflow.

But fundamental problems need fundamental responses, Health Accord co-chair Sister Elizabeth Davis told CBC News on Wednesday. 

"Now, as has been rightly pointed out, we have to move more quickly on making it happen," Davis said. 

The Health Accord blueprint is the Newfoundland and Labrador government's long-term, 10-year strategy for revamping its health-care system. 

The focus of the 262-page report and its 59 recommendations is long-term solutions, noted Davis.

"We have to be very clear that short-term solutions here are not what the Health Accord is about, but we do need to address the short-term concerns," she said. 

"The Department of Health and Community Services, with the regional health authorities, have a responsibility to do that."

Davis warns, however, that by continuing to put out small fires, the province runs the risk of making the same mistakes  it has in the past.

"The change that we need to bring about is much more fundamental than that and it has to look at the bigger picture," she said.

The short-term fixes are also untenable, says the NDP's interim leader, following a weekend in which Eastern Health publicly asked people to stay away from the two emergency rooms in St. John's unless experiencing a medical emergency.

Jim Dinn told CBC News said it's not reasonable to expect people to know whether they should go to an emergency room — and in many cases, people don't have another option.

"It's putting people in the position of trying to be their own physicians when they're not medically qualified," he said. "People are there, they're going to emergency in many cases because they have no doctor to go to."

Asking people to determine whether a condition or illness warrants a trip to the emergency room causes a lot of "emotional turmoil," said Dinn.

"How do you make that decision? How do you make that decision for someone that maybe you're caring for?" he said.