The Union of Care Professionals of the Eastern Townships, affiliated with the FIQ, wants answers from Christian Dubé about the ways in which he will support employees this summer.
At the dawn of the summer season, members of the health network in Estrie describe the situation as “catastrophic”. The Union of Care Professionals of the Eastern Townships, affiliated with the FIQ (FIQ-SPSCE), asks the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, how the employees will be supported this summer.
< p class="e-p">Nearly twenty operating theater nurses went public on Wednesday to denounce what they described as inaction on the part of their leaders with regard to human resources management for the summer season.
According to the Syndicate, more than 4,276 shifts are exposed from mid-June to mid-July in the region. This is alarming, can we read in a press release.
“We are entering one of the worst crises that the Fleurimont operating room has had to live with in the last 15 years. »
— Nadia Stéphanie Ouellet, nurse
Nadia Stéphanie Ouellet (in the middle) describes the conditions work in the Fleurimont operating room.
We are currently 24 nurses to do the work of 75, it is unacceptable, testifies Nadia Stéphanie Ouellet, nurse for 20 years in the Fleurimont operating room.
This glaring lack of personnel occurs in a context where Quebec is trying to catch up on the backlog in surgeries.
The next few weeks will be grueling for the staff. And, unfortunately, the very many uncovered shifts for the summer period once again portend the worst for those who will have to care for patients, explains the interim president of the FIQ-SPSCE, Stéphanie Goulet.
The interim president of the FIQ-SPSCE, Stéphanie Goulet
For six months, 800 hours of work have been done in overtime, supports the Union. Every week, a person leaves sick or exhausted, says the FIQ-SPSCE.
The Union fears that the coming summer will be too much for many nurses.
To ensure the retention of staff, particularly in the operating room, working conditions must be improved, starting with a reduction in compulsory overtime, on-call duty and shift rotations. quarters, hammers the Syndicate.
He asks that human resources planning not be done on a day-to-day basis.
The Union also indicates that its concerns go beyond the working conditions of its members and that it fears for the services it must provide to the population. Our members live with the fear of losing their patients, said Stéphanie Goulet.
The neurosurgeon at the Integrated University Health and Social Services Center (CIUSSS) in Estrie-CHUS, Dr. David Fortin, also signed an open letter on Tuesday in La Presse to denounce the shortcomings of the health care system.
David Fortin says he is troubled not only by personnel problems and by problems related to equipment, but also by communications that #x27;he considers deficient as well as the lack of internal accountability.
Passing by the show Par ici l' ;info, he mentioned a crying need for personnel in the region's operating theaters, beyond the summer holidays. It's obvious to anyone with elementary math that it's not going to work. But what is fascinating is that no one in the hospital organization gave us advance notice of this. So here we are heading towards this crisis and, ultimately, who will pay the price? These are the patients, he says.
With information from Marion Bérubé
