Three unions representing nearly 30,000 health-care workers in Saskatchewan say they are seeing their members leaving the industry as a result of high stress and low wages.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU-West), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU) sent a letter Tuesday addressed to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, asking him to act on promises made during last year’s election to fix the health care system as the fall legislative session kicks off in Regina.
“Health care workers are at a breaking point,” the letter reads, adding that short staffing and stalled bargaining are driving workers away.
“They have heard loud and clear from the people of Saskatchewan that health care is a challenge and they committed to do their best to address the issue and we have been patiently waiting for that,” said Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE Health Care Workers Local 5430 in an interview Wednesday.
But the three unions are not the only ones calling on the government for action.
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On Tuesday, a letter addressed to the health minister signed by more than 400 Saskatchewan health professionals raising concerns about overcrowding and short staffing at emergency departments was released to the public.
In the letter, a slew of potential solutions on matters concerning emergency department overcrowding, retention and staffing and patient safety concerns are also listed.
Health minister Jeremy Cockrill responded to the letter in a written statement Wednesday, acknowledging the challenges and listing commitments to increase hospital capacity in Saskatoon and Regina.
“We are focused on putting patients first by ensuring Saskatchewan people have access to the right care, in the right place, at the right time,” the statement reads.
However, the unions say capacity of hospitals is not the issue.
“We are not interested in new facilities because we don’t have the people to staff those facilities,” said Lisa Zunti, president of SEIU-West. “We want the commitment to the workers that are in the system.”
On Wednesday, the NDP said they will be demanding accountability from the province to address the ongoing issues in the health care system during the first question period Thursday.
“I’m asking for Minister Cockrell to come here, to listen. To show he cares and to make a plan, and that plan needs to address both retention and recruitment,” said Sask. NDP health critic Keith Jorgenson.
At the legislature Wednesday afternoon, in response to questions about health-care worker retention, Cockrill said he is focused on competitive wages and recruitment of health-care workers.
“What is going to help I think the most is making sure the incredible doctors and nursing and other staff across our system have more people on their team,” he said.
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