Saskatchewan Healthcare Workers Are Overworked and ‘Drowning’, Union Says | The Canadian News

The director of CUPE 5430, which is the largest health union in the province and represents 13,600 workers, says its members are “drowning” under the weight of a “chronic shortage of staff.”

He calls on the province to hire more permanent full-time health care employees, including continuing care assistants, medical technologists and cooks to alleviate burnout and burnout.

“We are not here to make a political point. We are here because we need help, ”Bashir Jalloh said Thursday, standing as a guest of the Saskatchewan NDP in front of several of the union members in the rotunda of the legislative building.

“It is a situation throughout the province, but it is much more serious in rural communities.”

Jalloh said some members of Continuing Care have worked 80 overtime hours in a single month “to make sure residents get the care they need.”

Jalloh said members don’t want to turn their backs when care is needed, but added that the situation “is not sustainable” and that many members have contemplated changing careers.

“This started long before COVID-19. COVID-19 compounded the problem. It’s getting worse every day, ”he said.

“Most of us moved from big cities to come here not for odd jobs. We come here for full-time jobs. The main cause of hiring and retention problems in this province is precarious work. They have to post full-time jobs. “

On Thursday, Saskatchewan Prime Minister Scott Moe was asked what the province can do to improve hiring strategies, including how to attract healthcare workers to rural areas.

“Those are precisely the questions that the remote rural health minister and the health minister should ask the SHA,” he said.

“Are there opportunities to increase the number of full-time positions that are offered so that we can attract people in particular to rural and remote communities?”

Moe said his government increased funding in its most recent budget to hire up to 300 more continuing care assistants over the next three years and said that going forward, his government will consider the need to increase health care resources in Saskatchewan, like ICU beds.

2:39Prime Minister Scott Moe Responds to Saskatchewan Health Authority Executive Director Resignation