'Watching patients suffer': Radiology workers say staff shortage costing lives

Healthcare staff in Canada are sounding the alarm on staffing shortages in the interventional department of a regional hospital, alleging it is costing patient lives. 

A letter signed by 15 radiology technologists and nurses employed at Regina General Hospital in Saskatchewan made its rounds throughout the community earlier in the week. The leaked letter, which has not been shared in full, was circulated by the New Democratic Party (NDP). 

It allegedly details concerns about how the dire shortage of qualified technologists and physicians is impacting patient care, revealing that some were unable to receive “lifesaving interventions in time.” It describes the “overwhelming challenges” staff in the department have faced, including issues with training, an “unsustainable workload” and rampant burnout among employees, causing many to resign. 

It also indicates the staffing shortage is driven by retention issues and several open positions—just 4 out of 10 IR tech positions are filled, while 4 out of 9 of the nursing positions are accounted for, local news outlets report. These issues have resulted in care delays and caused the department to close on some days.

During an interview with reporters Thursday, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said he had just been made aware of the letter hours earlier but had not yet seen it. 

“We take these issues seriously, and we’ll be reviewing the letter and understanding what’s happening at Regina General Hospital in the interventional radiology unit," he told reporters. 

However, Opposition Critic for Rural and Remote Health Meara Conway suggested that is not possible and that Cockrill has known about the ongoing issues for months. 

“The Saskatchewan NDP, we actually had a press conference on this back in October due to the short staffing that was happening in that unit,” she told reporters. “We raised the alarms due to the closures that were happening in interventionist radiology. So, for the health minister to somehow suggest he’s not aware of these issues is not believable in my view.” 

Gerri Grant, an interventional technologist who was previously employed at the hospital for 17 years, also backed the accusations made in the letter, telling reporters the issues brought forth have been going on “for years.” 

“Just watching my co-workers struggle, myself struggle with that work-life balance. We were taking on-call hours at an excessive rate,” she said. “You would be working your regular shifts as well as on-call. Watching patients suffer. I couldn't see that anymore. We watched the delays in their care harm them, and that's not something I could handle anymore.” 

Cockrill indicated he had recently recruited rads to provide reading services as contractors while officials work to “stabilize radiology services.” However, he is unsure of when those teams will be put in place.