A union-commissioned survey finds that 43% of Ontario hospital workers are considering leaving their jobs in the next year to varying degrees. The unions are calling on the state government to act to save the health system in crisis.
The survey was conducted by Nanos among 775 Ontario hospital workers and commissioned by employee unions.
It turns out that 41% of hospital workers are afraid to go to work and two in five employees are considering quitting their job.
The survey confirms that workers are deeply dissatisfied with their working conditions and that this is having an impact on their mental health, says Sharon Richer, representative of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).
In fact, nearly 70% of respondents believe there are not enough staff to provide quality care, 62% say they are exhausted and 49% suffer from anxiety, according to the survey.
Staff have been trained to provide quality care and when they feel that this is not the case, it is very painful for them, explains Sharon Richer.
The acute staffing crisis is directly related to patient care.
She remembers the numerous emergency closures last year and the long delays in surgical procedures.
The survey also shows that 79% of hospital workers do not believe the provincial government's plan will improve the health care system next year. All of this suggests that unless the government changes course, we are heading for an even worse, more catastrophic situation, says Sharon Richer.
France Gélinas, MP for Nickel Belt and NDP health spokesperson, is not surprised by these results. “I know a lot of healthcare workers can’t take it anymore, but they know that if they leave, things will get worse for their patients,” she says.
The unions are calling for an annual investment of $1.24 billion for the next four years, in addition to inflation indexation.
“We know that the two main issues causing staffing shortages are workload and pay,” emphasizes Dave Verch, first vice-president of the Council and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), indicating that more than half of those surveyed are dissatisfied with their salary.
The survey was conducted by Nanos Research by telephone between October 16 and 19, 2023 among 775 members using a member list provided by CUPE and OCHU.
The response rate was 3%. There is no fault tolerance for this data.
More nurses
The province's nurses are among the highest paid in the country, Hannah Jensen, spokesperson for Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones, said in an email, adding that the government hired more than 15,000 nurses in 2023.
She also recalls that the province has removed barriers to facilitate the recognition of international and interprovincial diplomas of nurses, expanded the program to cover the tuition fees of a larger number of nursing students and opened a historic number of training places for nurses.
However, according to Shanon Richer, this is not enough. Ontario would need 60,000 additional health workers over the next four years to meet demand, adds Dave Verch.
The unions are also calling for a staff-to-patient ratio in all departments of the hospital. This year, British Columbia became the first province to adopt a nurse-to-patient ratio.
According to them, more full-time staff are also needed. Currently, half of the staff is full-time, notes Dave Verch. We propose an increase to 70% over five years, he says.
For many healthcare workers, it would be good to no longer have to work in three places to pay the rent and feed the children, says France Gélinas. Ontario has the money […] “We are in a position to make the necessary investments to increase staff to create a tolerable workload and to increase salaries,” she said.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles is calling on the Progressive Conservatives to respond to unions' urgent call to stop underinvesting in Ontario hospitals.
“Healthcare workers are leaving and Ford is doing nothing to retain them,” she lamented in a press release.