‘Died waiting for treatment’: Sask. cancer agency union sounds the alarm on staff

Switching from campaign promises to campaign attacks, the Sask. NDP released a briefing note on Tuesday detailing some of the struggles of workers at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency and the sometimes fatal effect on patients.

The briefing note details and explains the position of the SGEU on workplace issues for its members who work within the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency (SCA), ahead of meetings with the Sask. Party Health Minister and Sask. NDP health critic last month.

The information and testimonials came from an employee survey done by SGEU.

The note talks about the agency facing significant challenges in a number of areas.

It said workers are dealing with issues of short-staffing in various departments with high turnover rates which increase pressures, and that the number of staff hasn’t kept pace with increasing patient numbers.

In the note, employees said many staff members are reporting unmanageable responsibilities leading to burnout and stress, and that there hasn’t been enough communication and support from management.

Physical space and resource limitations are mentioned in the note as well, saying it makes it difficult for employees to manage the growing workload from patients effectively.

These problems, according to the briefing note, have created a situation where delayed treatment, missed appointments and compromised patient outcomes are being reporting. Staff also told the survey patients were getting more stressed because of delays in care, communication and strain in the health system.

The briefing note quoted a number of employees saying things like patients have died waiting for treatment because of a lack of staff, and that chemotherapy treatments have been delayed or cancelled and treatment errors have happened.

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The SGEU outlined a number of solutions to these problems in the note, including recruiting more nurses, doctors, pharmacists and support staff, as well as implementing retention bonuses, career advancement opportunities, and other incentives to keep experienced staff.

It also suggested better strategies for distribution of the workload and staff support, and establish clear guidelines for patient load management.

Another proposed solution was improving compensation packages for workers, like shift differentials, to make SCA more competitive.

The Sask. NDP publicly released the briefing note, saying it was the consequences of Sask. Party mismanagement of the health-care system.

“Finding out you might have cancer is one of the most stressful parts of someone’s life. But what is so much worse is the knowledge that you might die before getting the treatment you need,” said NDP Leader Carla Beck in a news release.

“Knowing that there are treatment options that could save your life, but you can’t get them — because Scott Moe and the Sask. Party put them out of reach.”

The party then touted its campaign promise to put another $1.1 billion into the health-care system over four years if it were elected to government.

Sask. Party says work is ongoing

Sask. Party acknowledged the meeting with SGEU last month, and said the concerns were raised for the ministry to address with the SCA directly, and that is work that’s ongoing.

At the end of September, the government proposed a “patient-focused nursing task force” to hear from nurses on the front-lines.

The statement then went on to talk about what the Sask Party government has done on the health-care front.

It said the SCA extended its oncology clinics into the evenings to meet patient demand, the new Breast Health Centre was created in Regina, and the screening age for mammograms in the province is being lowered in a phased approach.

When it comes to money, the government put $1 million into ovarian cancer research, and increased funding to the SCA in the latest provincial budget by $26.1 million.