By Canadian Press

Surrey, B.C., ER doctors call for ‘new leadership’ amid ‘toxic’ work environment

Sep 17, 2024 | 1:31 PM

SURREY, B.C. — British Columbia politicians are celebrating connecting more people with family doctors, but it comes as emergency room physicians at Surrey Memorial Hospital say conditions there continue to crumble.

A letter sent to the president of Fraser Health Authority Dr. Victoria Lee, and published online, warns that deteriorating conditions in the department are “unequivocally leading to substandard care” and creating an “increasingly toxic work environment.”

The letter calls for “new leadership,” saying wait times in the ER often exceed 12 hours and the rate of patients who leave the department without being seen has tripled to 8.4 per cent since 2020-2021.

Premier David Eby and Health Minister Adrian Dix were in Surrey, where a new hospital is being built, to announce that more than 248,000 people have been connected to a family doctor or nurse practitioner since a provincial registry was launched in July 2023.

Eby says the province is working on addressing health-care pressures by building the second hospital in Surrey and connecting more people with family doctors to reduce the need for them to go to the emergency room.

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A statement from Fraser Health says it understands the seriousness of the concerns and it will be responding directly to the physicians “to address them comprehensively.”

“While we have more work to do, we are pleased to report that in addition to the thousands of staff already working at the hospital, since July 2023 we posted 575 net new positions for the Surrey Memorial Hospital and Surrey communities,” the statement says.

The letter from the doctors says that since 2021, staffing has increased eight per cent, while patient volumes have jumped 30 per cent.

The letter says doctors have tried dozens of times to declare a “Code Orange” when they believe the department is pushed beyond a safe level, but 24 of those 25 requests have been denied, making doctors reluctant to call for help.

“The combination of long shifts, overwhelming patient volumes, high acuity, inadequate support, compensation disparities and the invalidation of our lived experiences has contributed to significant burnout among our staff,” the letter says.

“Physicians are facing exhaustion, anxiety and an overall decline in their mental health, which ultimately compromises patient care.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

The Canadian Press