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As Saskatchewan’s health-care system slows down to help move resources over to the COVID-19 response, doctors in the Regina area are concerned about what that’s going to mean for other patients.
On Wednesday evening, the Saskatchewan Medical Association hosted a forum for doctors in the former Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region. Association president Dr. Eben Strydom said a lot of the discussion centred around the slowdown.
“It was about, ‘What are physicians going to do? What happens to decisions? What’s happening to the waiting list?’ There were concerns about elective cases that are being postponed – and many of these elective cases are not really purely elective; they are life-influencing conditions, some of them more urgent than others — and the impact that that has on the people that are waiting and the quality of life,” explained Strydom.
Strydom said the system was already struggling with long wait times and there are worries about the impact this is going to have down the road.
Also high on the discussion list were rural support issues. Strydom said the human resources in many rural areas are problematic and where doctors are in short supply, it means long hours and intense call schedules for others – and that can lead to burnout, especially right now.
Strydom said the system needs all hands on deck and the association is trying to encourage doctors to stay positive.
“This is the impression that I got from all the physicians, that they want to help. But it is true that in certain areas where there’s nothing at this stage that they seem to be able to do to help, it is a huge problem – and I’m specifically referring to some of the rural ERs where they have human resource restraints to help with COVID,” said Strydom.
In the discussion, Strydom said there were also a lot of questions about the slowdown, but he said he didn’t have answers for many things because discussions are ongoing. The SMA is going to have to see how it plays out.
It’s not just in Regina. Strydom said he’s hearing similar concerns from doctors all over the province – concerns with the pandemic and its impact on the workload, patients who are scared of COVID and don’t seek help when they should, burnout, and many doctors feeling like more should be done.