The call comes a day after the Official Opposition exposed the contents of a leaked memo confirmed by several sources that forces an emergency room to stay open even if there is just one registered nurse available in the entire hospital. That nurse would be required to manage an emergency room and acute care beds and oversee point of care testing, virtual care, and care for patients.
First, Sask. Party Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill claimed there had been no policy change and accused the Opposition of lying. However, an official he trotted out to the media from the Saskatchewan Health Authority confirmed seconds later that a new work order had been issued to “standardize” conditions for closing an emergency room.
“This is a dangerous game the health minister is playing with the lives of Saskatchewan people,” said Jared Clarke, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Rural & Remote Health. “We are hearing directly from frontline healthcare workers devastated by this new policy and what it means for their ability to provide critical, lifesaving care to patients.
“The Minister has changed the rules for rural emergency rooms, rather than fixing the crisis that has been plaguing them after 18 years of Sask. Party failures to deliver proper healthcare.”
Clarke and his colleague, Associate Shadow Minister for Health Keith Jorgenson, have uncovered hundreds of rural emergency room closures in Saskatchewan this year alone. In response, Clarke signaled his intent in September to bring forward legislation to require public notification of these closures. On Oct. 25, a new memo was sent out by the SHA to restrict those closures to only instances where there was no RN on staff.
“The Sask. Party Health Minister is going to get someone killed,” Jorgenson said. “He’s either admitting he can’t fix the problem or that he doesn’t care about the health of Saskatchewan people living in rural communities.
“What’s worse is, despite damning evidence mounting against him, he chose to lie about making these dangerous rule changes. Clearly, he can’t be trusted to put patient safety first — so, today, we’re demanding his boss Scott Moe step in and reverse this new dangerous new policy.
“It’s time the Premier puts patient safety over saving his ass politically.”
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