Patients leaving overcrowded Nova Scotia ER without being seen: managers
CTV
An emailed letter to staff of a Halifax-area hospital says that the pressure on the emergency room has risen to the point where there's no space to assess patients and one in 10 people aren't seen before they give up and leave.
An emailed letter to staff of a Halifax-area hospital says that the pressure on the emergency room has risen to the point where there's no space to assess patients and one in 10 people aren't seen before they give up and leave.
Two managers at the Dartmouth General Hospital say in the statement obtained by The Canadian Press that influenza and respiratory syncytial virus are combining with other factors to block the flow of patients through the ER.
The email was sent Thursday to a long list of managers in advance of a virtual town hall meeting of hospital staff to be "hosted by site co-leads" on Monday.
It says "there is nowhere to assess patients" entering the hospital's emergency system, and adds -- underlined and in bold -- that "patients are dying in the waiting rooms" at Dartmouth General Hospital as well as other sites.
Nova Scotia Health spokesman Brendan Elliott said in an interview the agency wished to clarify nobody has died in the waiting room, but rather the managers meant patients' health was "growing significantly worse" as they waited for long periods to be seen.
"We cannot provide additional information for privacy reasons. The statement 'as well as other sites,' refers to media reports of incidents in other parts of Canada," added Elliott.
While it is well known that emergency rooms have been crowded and struggling to cope -- as reported by Nova Scotia Health's own online monitoring system -- it is rare for managers to make such blunt statements of the problems in the province's hospitals.
