Health care a major election issue as B.C. doctor says he’s hit breaking point

A physician at Lions Gate Hospital says he is seriously considering resigning from the hospital as he has hit a breaking point with the health-care system.

Dr. Kevin McLeod posted on social media on Thursday, raising concerns about the current system and calling on the next government to make people in highly paid positions accountable.

“It really hit a breaking point for me last night because Sechelt is phoning saying we need to send patients over to Lions Gate,” the internal specialist said.

“Well… honestly it’s ridiculous.”

McLeod said this week has been especially difficult and it’s taking a toll on him and his family.

“For me, on a typical call day, I might have 20, 22 new complex patients,” he said.

“I might have an additional 35, 40, 50 people in an office. It’s not safe.”

Meanwhile, patients needing neurological care at Penticton Regional Hospital could face reduced access to specialist services after three neurologists resigned their hospital privileges.

The resignations come after Interior Health introduced a change last month requiring neurologists to provide on-call services across the entire health region, a move physicians say would significantly increase their workload without additional support in their communities.

“There’s always concerns whenever you lose doctors from any medical facility,” said Dr. Adam Thompson, president of Doctors of BC.

Thompson said the new on-call requirements could place additional pressure on neurologists who are already in short supply.

“It was to substantially increase their workload without additional support in their communities to do so,” he said. “There comes a tipping point where you cannot juggle all the balls of neurological cases at the same time.”

With the B.C. provincial election just days away, health-care experts are hoping that the political parties are listening to their concerns.

“We’re going to ensure that we’re putting the minimum nurse-to-patient ratios into legislation, into the law, to make sure that the health authorities know, that the hospital managers know, that everybody knows, that this is where the government is going,” BC NDP leader David Eby said.

In a release, B.C. Nurses’ Union president Adriane Gear said ratio legislation represents an opportunity to build on the progress that’s already been made, provide greater certainty for patients and nurses, and support the planned expansion of ratios in emergency departments, operating rooms, long-term care and assisted living facilities, as well as community and non-hospital care settings.

But she added that safe staffing is a health-care priority that must transcend party politics and remain a commitment regardless of which party forms government.

BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson said that they will “build a brand new state-of-the-art children’s and women’s hospital right here in Surrey that we’re very excited to announce.”

McLeod said the issue remains that the people in high-ranking admin positions need to run the system better.

“We’ve dramatically increased the number of people who are in these admin roles, but I wouldn’t argue we’re running things more efficiently,” he said.

“A lot of savings could be had there.”