Shortage of U/S techs in Alberta’s ERs

CALGARY – This week, a Postmedia columnist seeking a diagnosis for an issue that turned out to be a leg blood clot said he was told there was no ultrasound service available at Calgary’s Sheldon Chumir Centre and turned to a private provider in the city’s downtown instead.

Doctors say that’s not uncommon in Alberta’s ERs, where they insist there’s a shortage of technicians to perform scans – a situation that’s adding to what many of them say should be considered in a state of emergency in the often-gridlocked units.

“That’s every single day – there’s nothing remotely atypical about that,” said Dr. Paul Parks (pictured), past president of the Alberta Medical Association and an emergency physician in Medicine Hat.

Dr. Parks, a vocal critic of the UCP government’s healthcare policies, said there are enough ultrasound machines at hospitals and ERs but not enough staff to operate them. “If you don’t have the skilled people to operate them, they’re meaningless without them, they’re useless,” he said.

That’s delaying patient care and dangerously backing up queues forming up in ERs that have left at least seven patients dead since last month, said Parks.

“It’s making the stays long in the ERs – we are able to call in technicians sometimes but it’s getting harder and harder and it’s a major danger to patients,” he said.

A Calgary ER physician echoed those concerns, saying it’s an issue that deserves more discussion.

“I look around on a shift these days and it seems the majority of people sitting in chairs, lounge chairs, hallways and acute care beds are waiting for some sort of imaging,” the physician, who chose anonymity, said in an email.

“Ultrasound, despite often being the imaging of choice in many clinical scenarios, is usually the worst in terms of wait.”

The doctor said it’s rare that there are ultrasound technicians available at ERs 24-7 and that some of the procedures end up being put over for the next day.

“All adding to the ongoing volume of people waiting for their (diagnostic imaging) clogging up examining/waiting space,” said the practitioner.

“This delay also adds to physician costs with handovers, often more than one over a patient’s stay … more costs to Alberta Health!”

The physician said the situation has long been the reality but that it’s recently become worse. And he said even if more ultrasound technicians were hired, that would require more radiologists to complement that.

“As with many aspects of medicine these days, I think the diagnostic imaging infrastructure is just not there to handle the increased population coming through our crowded hospitals,” said the physician.

Earlier this week, Alberta doctors compiled a series of cases that identified six deaths as preventable and more than 30 “near misses” in emergency rooms across the province, all of which have occurred in the wake of Prashant Sreekumar’s passing.

The 44-year-old died Dec. 22 at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton, more than eight hours after entering the emergency department complaining of chest pains.

Last October, the province said it was preparing legislation to expand access to pay-out-of-pocket diagnostic imaging, something already available in Alberta.

At the time, premier Danielle Smith told reporters a lack of technicians isn’t a problem – the limited number of tests paid for by the province is.

The move will take the pressure off public settings, modernize the system and attract investment and skilled health-care professionals, said Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange.

“In Canada, we are far behind (other countries) on this and we need to do better,” she said in a video last fall.

The province said if the privately-done and purchased imaging reveals a severe condition not previously known by the patient, that person will receive government reimbursement.

But Parks said the move will entice technicians away from the more dire, challenging cases towards the for-profit sector and exacerbate the staff shortage in hospitals.

“This will drive them out,” he said.

The required equipment and personnel are being evaluated at the Sheldon Chumir Centre, said the press secretary for the Hospital and Surgical Health Services ministry.