'Crisis point': NDP slams province over crowded emergency rooms, long hospital wait times

The NDP released a photo showing a patient at St. Paul's Hospital emergency room who waited over 140 hours, which is more than five days. 

On Tuesday, NDP official opposition healthcare critic Vicki Mowat spoke about overcrowding and wait times in Saskatoon emergency departments.

She said that morning conditions had reached a "crisis point" and healthcare workers were asking her to speak out about it.

 The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) said the system is at its worst.

SUN reported on social media that there were 41 admitted patients with no beds at St. Paul's; using ambulance beds, hallway beds and the waiting room instead.

"They're worried that there's going to be a death, a serious illness, something that happens on their watch that not only would they morally have to deal with, but also in terms of their license, could also be at risk," said Mowat.

"There are some very serious concerns about the situation that this is putting our healthcare workers in."

Mowat said there needs to be a nurse task force that SUN has been asking for and that frontline workers need to be heard.

When asked by CBC if the NDP has calculated a dollar amount that needs to be put into the healthcare system to fix it, Mowat said the party needs to have those conversations and more will come out as it releases its platform in the coming months.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said "ongoing work" is being done to address the over capacity emergency room issues.

"Our intention is to always care for patients in an appropriate care environment, eliminating the use of hallway beds in our emergency departments whenever possible. However, capacity pressures can ebb and flow meaning we must also adapt to meet demand, while providing safe, high quality care at all times," the SHA stated in an email.

The SHA cited its Saskatoon capacity pressure action plan and how progress continues with that initiative.

In November, the SHA announced a plan to address overcrowding in Saskatoon hospitals, which included one, three and six month goals.

The health authority's statement ends by saying the action its taken so far with the capacity plan has a meaningful impact.