The difficult pause between arriving at Stanton Territorial Hospital’s Emergency Department and seeing a doctor is due to get worse as the weather gets warmer.
“We understand that these challenges may also mean longer wait times in the ED, and this can be frustrating,” reads a Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) release from late Thursday afternoon. “The NTHSSA sincerely appreciates your patience and understanding during this time and ask residents to please be kind to staff who are working hard to maintain these important services.
“While staffing challenges may affect how quickly you are seen, please rest assured that your health and safety remain the top priority. Every patient will continue to receive safe, compassionate care, and those with the most urgent needs will always be prioritized using the triage system.”
As the referral site and entry-point to higher level of care for residents of the NWT and Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, the NTHSSA will always aim to maintain access to services in Stanton’s ED.
To ensure ED access during periods of staff shortage, shift coverage may sometimes need to be adjusted.
These alternate staffing approaches may include:
- Staffing with 12-hour physician shifts, rather than the existing eight-hour shift preferred model. These extended shifts will be supported by on-call specialists and other health care providers as needed to maintain safe and effective patient care. The NTHSSA acknowledges that this is not an ideal or sustainable long-term solution, but it is a necessary short-term mitigation measure to ensure continuity of care during this period.
- Staffing may include one or more physicians who typically work in lower-volume emergency departments, such as those in Inuvik or Hay River, or by adding more family physicians to the shift schedule. In these cases, we also adjust the level of support by coordinating with on-call physicians and specialists to ensure they are more readily available.
- To maintain services, it may also mean adding more nurses, paramedics and/or respiratory therapists to the support flow of patients, and when necessary, redeploying staff from other service areas across the system. This may mean service reductions in other program areas, but these combined efforts will help to sustain critical emergency services while mitigating impacts on staff and overall service delivery.
- And as a last resort, NTHSSA would weigh the impact of recalling staff from leave.
Some of these strategies have been used previously during unexpected shortages and the NTHSSA states it has, “refined its approach and planning.”
The release stated: “We know with summer months approaching, staffing will remain a challenge, and these plans may need to be implemented from time-to-time.”