Senior physician warns of a crisis in one of B.C.'s busiest ERs

The most senioremergency physician at one ofBritish Columbia's busiesthospitals has come forward to warn the public about the ongoingcrisis inside the emergency department, saying the situation has deteriorated to the point where some patients are waiting as many as three days to be admitted to other wards.

Dr. Urbain Ip said theunderstaffing and overcrowding problems in the emergency room at Surrey Memorial Hospital have himand his colleagues regularly going home "worried sick" about their patients.

"Right now, if my loved one got sick, I'm not sure if I wouldsend [them] to my hospital ...and that's a terrible thing to feel,"said Ip, who's been an emergency doctorfor more than 30 years.

"We are in deep trouble right now."

Ip was among three dozenemergency physicians who signeda blistering letter this month claiming health officials have refused to publicly admit the scale of an ER staffing crisis that has patients waiting and sometimes dying in hallways without adequate care.

CBC News agreed to withhold the physicians' identities when they released the letter last weekbecause they feared repercussions at work, but Ip said he's speaking out by name in an effort to drive the team's message home.

"I need Fraser Health to be transparent with the public and recognize that we are in trouble," said Ip, who is also a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia's Department of Emergency Medicine and the former medical director of Surrey Memorial Hospital.

Regardless, Ip saidpatients should always go to theER during a health emergency.

"Look, I really worry about the hospital's abilityto take care of my loved one but I want the citizen to know: if you are really sick, if you have chest pain, if you have stroke symptoms, do not be afraid to come to the emergency," he said.

"We will look after you no matter what."

WATCH |Senior physician at Surrey hospital speaks about conditions that are leaving staff 'worried sick':

Senior physician at Surrey hospital speaks about conditions that are leaving staff 'worried sick'

1 year ago

Duration 1:52

Dr. Urbain Ip, a leading emergency room physician at Surrey Memorial Hospital, said conditions in the department have broken down to the point where patients can be stranded in hallways for days at a time.

House doctor shortage leaving patients stranded, letter says

The doctors' letter last week pointed to one key problem: a lack of "house doctors," or hospitalists,means patients linger in the ER for days because there aren't enough staffers to admit them to the next ward.

"You talk to the hospitalist and you write an order to admit them ... lots of times these patients are not seen for 24, 48 and sometimes 72 hours," said Ip, speaking in an interview with CBC's On the Coast on Tuesday.

"The first 48 hours of these sick patients, they can deteriorate, they can change status and it's very, very criticalvery, very important that these patients are looked after by physicians and reassessed repeatedly."

Ipsaid the situation has staff morale at alow.

"I tell you, this group of physicians that I work with ... [each] is a very, very competent, compassionate and dedicated physician. Each of them now go home worried... they don't know what's going to happen to those patients," he said.

"They are the last doctor who saw them. Ifthat patientdeteriorates and hasany adverse effects, they feel responsible and that's a really, really tough way to finish the day's work."

Surrey Memorial Hospital has the busiest emergency room in the province, according to Fraser Health.

The health authority on Wednesday acknowledged"longer-than-normal wait times" for patients and said recruitment staff are focusing on hospitalists, internal medicine physiciansand nurse practitioners. The authority said it's also "expanded team nursing for Surrey Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department, intensive care unit and other medical-surgical units."

"As a result of our recruitment efforts, we have seen a reduction in vacancies within Surrey Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department," read an email, which did not specify how many vacancies have been filled.

"We know long waits can be challenging for patients and their families, and we thank them for their continued patience and kindness during visits to our Emergency Departments."

In response to the letter last week, Health Minister Adrian Dix acknowledged workers' "frustration" and said the province was "actively" working to hiremore hospitalists.

Ip said doctors are not seeing results.

"Whatever that he added, whatever physicians have been added to the hospital, it's not working," he said.

"We want them to recognize how miserable we are, how lowmorale is ... And we want them to hurry up and finish the negotiation of the contract with the hospitalists so that the hospitalist group can hire."