Quebec's hospital emergency rooms have been overcrowded almost every year for several years because a technological lag hinders communication between hospital departments, according to an emergency doctor.
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“We don’t yet have a universal computer system in hospitals, which means everything is made of paper,” said doctor Élyse Berger Pelletier in an interview on the Le Bilan program on Wednesday.
The person who was part of the crisis team to relieve the burden on hospital centers last year explains that “managers do not have access to real-time data”.
“Right now, as managers and as a health system, we are sailing a little blind,” she adds.
Complications in the “hospital flow,” as Doctor Luc Boileau calls it, are a typical Quebec problem, according to the emergency doctor.
“We are very behind compared to other parts of Canada or the world,” she says. In the emergency room we have no information about what is happening on the floors and the opposite is also true.
“It is definitely one of the main causes of congestion in emergency rooms every winter,” reveals the doctor.
Overloaded emergencies
While many Quebecers contract viruses during the winter, many want to consult a professional to get a diagnosis.
Unfortunately, some who can't get an appointment with a doctor at a clinic end up in the emergency room, clogging up the department.
“We are in a system that is always close to 100% capacity, and unfortunately when we need to reach 140-150%, the emergency valve is,” informs Dr. Berger Pelletier.
The emergency room doctor says many patients who come to the hospital apologize to triage. The majority of them are aware of the problematic situation.
“They say, 'I didn't want to come to the emergency room, but I didn't know where to go,'” she paraphrases.
These people who go to the hospital are often at the end of their tether and the doctor understands their reflex.
“It's OK to come to the emergency room if you don't know where to go and want the opinion of a healthcare professional. That’s what we’re here for, even when we’re overcrowded,” she says.
Instead of blaming citizens, Dr. Berger Pelletier said it was the system that had to “adapt”.
***Watch the interview with Dr. Élyse Berger Pelletier in the show Le Bilan in the video above***