Frequent overcrowding at N.L. hospitals shows health care is 'broken,' says nurses' union

The leader of the province's registered nurses' union says information obtained by CBC News about the frequency of overcrowding at one St. John's hospital proves that Newfoundland and Labrador's health-care system is in crisis.

Information released by Eastern Health following an access-to-information requestshowswhat's known as "doubleovercapacity protocol" was in place at St. Clare's Mercy Hospitalfor50 days in 2021.The protocol is enacted when there are no beds for patients to be admitted to hospital through the emergency department.

"We have a system now that is broken and our members are broken," said Yvette Coffey, president of the Registered Nurses' Union Newfoundland andLabrador.

"They are at a point in time where something has to give, something has to change.We're at a crucial point in health care and we need change now."

Throughout every single regional health authority we are dealing with this issue.- Yvette Coffey

Under the double overcapacity protocol, said Coffey, emergency department patients are taken to in-patient units but when there are no beds available, it means either they are put in a hallway or a patient already in a room is taken out and put in the hallway if the new patient needs the room more.

More patients per nurse

But the protocoldoesn't mean there are more nurses available, said Coffey.

"Once you increase the the workload, once you increase the patient numbers for a nurse, you decrease patient outcomes. You have poorer patient outcomes, there is more room for error," she said.

Coffey said the issue predates the COVID-19 pandemic and is a problem at more than just St. Clare's, pointing to 116 days when the Health Sciences Centre in 2019-20 was operating beyond its capacity.

"We have overcapacity in Gander, in Twillingate, in Goose Bay, in St. Anthony. Throughout every single regional health authority we are dealing with this issue," she said.

Coffey said the pandemic has only made the problem worse.

With measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 keeping people away from hospitals and doctors, she said,there's pent-up demand for health-care services from patients who may have become sicker duringthe pandemic.

"We're seeing patients who have not had access to their physician or primary-care provider during the pandemic except through virtual consultation," said Coffey.

More public investment needed: Coffey

In May,the premier's economic recovery team, led by Moya Greene,recommended cutting health-care spending by 25 per cent, but Coffey said cuts are not the answer.

"We know that there are many people without a family doctor and, in the absence of access to primary care, patients are actually going to emergency departments to get prescriptions filled and that's everywhere. That's not just a St. John's issue. That's a systemic issue throughout Newfoundland and Labrador," she said.

"We have ignored recruitment and retention of health care professionals in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Canada.We have not put the public investment in health care that needs to be there."

Coffey saidthere are signs the provincial government is working to improve access to services,includingsetting up collaborative-care clinics, increasing the number of nurse practitioners, and establishing an office for recruitment and retention of health-care professionals.

Elizabeth Kennedy, vice-president of Eastern Health's emergency program, said Tuesday afternoon the health authority is working "every day" on the problem of overcrowding.

"[We] just want to reassure people that when you come to the emerg, we get you in front of the health provider, the nursing staff, the physicians, and really do everything we can to ensure that yourneeds are met when you're there."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador