The roots of the crisis at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont are not limited to a problem of work climate. The excessively busy hospital establishment in relation to the reception capacity of its facilities also contributed to harming staff retention.
This is at least what the mediator of the Ministry of Labor Lisa Lavallée observes, in a recent report whose The duty got a copy on Tuesday.
Ms. Lavallée had been appointed on January 16 by the Ministry of Health and Social Services to bring the employer and union parties closer together, when a hundred nurses demanded the departure of their unit head and threatened to resign en bloc. They then deplored the toxic work climate within their unit as well as the widespread use of compulsory overtime (TSO).
In her three-page report, the mediator identifies various measures aimed at improving the working climate within the establishment. “The challenge is considerable, since it involves finding how to serve the population served by the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal while taking into account the health and safety of staff nurse in the emergency room, and their work-life balance needs,” writes Ms. Lavallée.
The mediator also immediately notes that the hospital capacity of the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, which includes Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, no longer meets the needs of residents in the sector. In fact, this CIUSSS serves 27% of the population of Montreal, but only has 19% of the stretchers and 16% of the beds in the metropolitan hospital network.
This results in an imbalance between the demand of citizens and the reception capacity of Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, which creates “increased clinical pressure on the teams on a daily basis”. Nurses thus send their resignation letters, out of breath, in particular because of the increased use of the TSO that this particular context entails, notes the mediator. This is how the shortage of nurses has become “particularly acute” at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont.
“Several stakeholders feel that it is becoming difficult to provide a level of care that meets the standards of good practice, which the population of the east of the island is entitled to expect,” notes the report.
Lisa Lavallée thus recommends that the Ministry of Health and Social Services implement measures aimed at “reducing clinical pressure” and “increasing the number of nurses available in emergency and hospitalization departments” so that those they cease to be confronted with a demand “significantly superior” to the resources available in the emergencies of the east of the island.
Appoint “a neutral third party”
The mediator also recommends that a mandate be given to “a neutral and impartial third party” to carry out a diagnosis of the work climate in the emergency room of Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont. A follow-up committee would be set up in parallel “to ensure the implementation of an action plan”, the details and deadlines of which would be presented to the members of the emergency staff, suggests the mediator.
Moreover, Lisa Lavallée notes the importance of improving communication between the employer and union sides of the hospital establishment “to ensure a better understanding of the issues and mobilization of all emergency resources.” The mediator therefore recommends that the management of Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont properly communicate its decisions and orientations and “make sure to give answers to the questions” of its employees in order to improve trust between workers and managers. of the establishment.