Possible surgery delays coming this summer, as nurses struggle to get time off

There could be more surgery delays this summer, as Newfoundland and Labrador struggles with an overworked and understaffed health-care system. 

Speaking to reporters at a news conference Tuesday, Registered Nurses' Union president Yvette Coffey described shutting down some operating rooms as "a last resort," but noted it was something they had to do last summer when they closed some ORs in order to give nurses some time off.

"It's been a rough couple of years," she said, before citing a survey of more than 700 nurses and nurse practitioners in which she said half of the respondents said they've considered quitting to become casual.

"We need to stop that bleeding, because if we lose any more registered nurses we are going to have to shut down services," she said. "We cannot keep going on the back of registered nurses and other health-care providers. The mandatory overtime — the 24-hour shifts — is increasing every single day, and we cannot sustain that. It's not safe for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and it's not safe for patients."

Coffey, along with Premier Andrew Furey and Health Minister John Haggie, were there to speak about what they're calling a nursing think tank — a series of meetings between health-care officials and nursing staff to try to figure out short- and long-term solutions to the staffing shortage.

Some involve ideas on child care and giving people the ability to self-schedule so they're able to plan days off in advance.

Coffey said another idea would let people fill in the blanks on a schedule six weeks in advance, so nurses will know the schedule and can put in for time off accordingly.

But she said there's potential to close some operating rooms as well, which would mean more surgical delays.

Last month, the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association pegged the surgical backlog at 6,000 cases at the Health Sciences Centre and St. Clare's Mercy Hospital alone. 

The association's president, Dr. Susan MacDonald, has said the backlog — built up because of COVID-19 shutdowns and a cyberattack against the health-care system — is a problem across the province. 

Haggie said he sympathizes with anyone stuck in that backlog.

"I understand their predicament," he said. "The challenge that we have is that we need to preserve the workforce we have, stop the bleeding, deal with that, and then we can go on to address backlog and bigger issues."

But interim PC Opposition leader David Brazil said his party thinks delaying more surgeries is not acceptable, and he wants the government to do whatever it takes to avoid that happening.

"We do understand, you know, the challenges with nurses being overburdened and burnout and all the things like that. But access to surgery is too important for people. This is life-altering, this is life-changing, life-saving."