The BC Liberal government and a wide range of leaders in the health care sector have agreed to work together to implement an action plan to improve the experience of patients, families and staff in the province’s largest and busiest emergency rooms.
April 30, 2006
VANCOUVER – The BC Liberal government and a wide range of leaders in the health care sector have agreed to work together to implement an action plan to improve the experience of patients, families and staff in the province’s largest and busiest emergency rooms, announced Health Minister George Abbott.
A meeting of senior officials from the B.C. Medical Association, B.C. Nurses Union, regulatory colleges, ER physician directors and health authority executives was held Saturday afternoon, at the request of the Health Minister.
“We share the challenge of congestion in our emergency rooms with health care institutions across North America,” said Abbott. “Much work has been done and is underway in B.C. to address the long-term challenges. We now have a strong commitment from key partners across the system, including the ER doctors and nurses themselves, to drive short-term solutions and to allow us to bridge toward the longer term solutions that we have already committed to, and are underway.”
A key part of the action plan will see emergency departments naming one doctor and one nurse to work with a senior health authority lead to drive innovation. These hospital-based leadership teams will work with paramedics, physicians, nurses, allied professionals, other hospital staff and managers to identify short-term improvements along the care pathways for patients visiting large emergency rooms.
A pool of $7 million will be made available to the team for small short-term investments that can lever minor equipment, data collection, patient comforts and other potential supports to patients in ER’s. Emphasis will be put on ensuring that all hospital-based programs and practitioners share the responsibility for finding and implementing solutions to diminish the pressure on emergency departments.
“The teams will be encouraged to apply innovation, to think outside the box and break through routine bureaucracy to enable immediate action,” said Abbott. “Leadership across the whole hospital needs to commit to work together to support colleagues and patients in the ER to enable these solutions to work. These teams will have the full support of the ministry and my office. The clear message from the meeting was that there was room to significantly improve and everyone was committed to moving quickly in the interests of British Columbians.
“I applaud the leadership of the heath authorities, nurses, physicians, paramedics and health staff for coming together with us and committing to work collaboratively together towards quick solutions to benefit patients in this province.”
The teams will be established on Monday. They will be reporting back to the deputy minister throughout the month to report on progress. A meeting will take place on May 26 to review actions taken and discuss preliminary results and further steps required.
