Saskatchewan's Health Minister Jim Reiter admits the government hasn't met its targets when it comes to reducing wait times. (file photo/CJME)

By Lisa Schick/CJME

Wait time targets not met

Sask. NDP takes gov’t to task over ER wait times

May 18, 2019 | 12:08 PM

Saskatchewan’s minister of health is admitting the government needs to do more when it comes to emergency room wait times, and the NDP says what is being done isn’t working.

“Clearly it’s too long, and we need to do better,” Health Minister Jim Reiter said earlier this week.

Numbers brought up in committee show people on average wait more than five hours before seeing a doctor in Regina emergency rooms. Patients wait about three hours in Prince Albert, Lloydminster and Saskatoon.

The province has had a succession of wait time targets over the past few years but hasn’t been able to meet them. Reiter said that’s due to a number of factors, including an aging population which requires more health care, drug problems which cause stress on emergency rooms, and a general population increase.

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Reiter also repeated something that has been talked about before, which is the number of people who use emergency rooms for problems that don’t require an emergency room.

The minister admits the government hasn’t met its targets, and it’s going to take another look at things.

“So, we’re going to kind of retrench,” Reiter said. “We’re going to look at this, we’re going to take a harder look at how the connected care strategy is working.”

NDP Leader Ryan Meili accused the province of moving the goalposts as it moves wait time targets.

“The fact of the matter is, none of the measures that the minister has been talking about will do anything to reduce emergency rooms because he doesn’t understand how emergency rooms work,” Meili said.

Meili, who is a doctor, said fixing the wait time problem doesn’t just mean work in emergency rooms.

“You need to be fixing it with more access to primary care,” he said. “You need to be fixing it with better availability of beds on the floor as well, so people are actually able to be where they should be, getting the care they deserve and not blocking up the emergency room which is what’s happening now.”

Meili said fixing this doesn’t necessarily mean spending more. He said about 30 per cent of spending isn’t necessary, referring to things like testing or surgeries which aren’t necessary or don’t work.