An investigation has been opened by the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) at the Granby hospital into an anonymous complaint filed recently, and endorsed by the union of nurses.
The union and the workers have been denouncing for some time the excessive workload of nurses, especially those in the emergency room. The holiday season was particularly critical, with a high amount of mandatory overtime (TSO) anticipated.
“The distress of the staff is obvious. The workload is enormous. There is too much overtime. This is something clear for the CNESST, for us, for the employer and for the members”, underlined Stéphanie Goulet, interim president of the Union of Care Professionals of the Eastern Townships (SPSCE-FIQ ).
The CNESST has confirmed that an intervention is underway. The Commission cannot specify the nature of the complaint or the timeline for intervention, which may vary depending on the complexity of the subject. A series of meetings between employer and workers took place to find solutions. Nursing assistant and administrative officer positions have also been added.
“This is a situation that concerns us a great deal. There are different solutions that we can put in place, if we talk about the role of each of these people, the way communications take place in the team or the work overload. Now, we have to look with the team at what we want to prioritize with them,” commented Yann Belzile, director of human resources, communications and legal affairs at the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS.
Summer planning
The CIUSSS also presented its contingency plan on Thursday to allow its teams to take advantage of the summer holidays. Services in the emergency room and in the CHSLDs are maintained, but other sectors, such as the operating room, will be modulated. The reduction in activities will be condensed over a period of 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the blocks. Acute care beds will also be closed for the summer. In 2022, this measure affected 87 beds. Without specifying for the year 2023, the CIUSSS predicts a higher number this summer.
Activities in collection and vaccination centers will also be condensed. Ultimately, the CIUSSS hopes to hire more than 2,800 employees in 2023. The organization wishes to increase its number of interns, which was 6,000 in 2022, and focus on reducing the TSO.