According to the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), since 2018 there have been hundreds of cases where patient care at the Brantford General Hospital was at risk, or delayed because of staffing levels.
The hospital was the subject of an independent hearing this week.
“What we’re seeing is that this department is chronically understaffed, there’s a revolving door of staff, lack of leadership in this department,” said Erin Ariss, President of the Ontario Nurses’ Association.
The Ontario Nurses’ Association said that the emergency department at Brantford General Hospital is such a mess, patients and staff are suffering.
Ariss said, that since 2018, the ER nurses at Brantford General have identified over 300 cases where patient care was at risk, or there were delays in care.
“What we’re seeing is that patients are seeing longer to see triage nurse, ambulances are waiting longer to be checked in,” said Ariss.
The staffing levels and patient care were topics of discussion at an independent hearing this past week.
Hospital management, along with impacted ER nurses, and the Ontario Nurses Association, met with a panel of three experts.
“This independent assessment committee will make recommendations and this hospital will have the option to implement them made by this expert panel, explained Ariss.
However, it will be up to the hospital to implement the recommendations.
“Technically they’re not binding legally, however, it would be against anyone’s best interest that if an expert panel anywhere in any sector and you failed to acknowledge them that wouldn’t be in the best interest of patients or the community,” she added.
The findings should be out within 45 days.
CHCH News reached out to Brantford General Hospital for comment but where unavailable as of press time.
