The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Residents could soon know whether the controversial practice of allowing emergency-room doctors to work 24 straight hours will continue in Flin Flon. The Northern Regional Health Authority confirms its contract with ER physicians at the Flin Flon General Hospital expires on June 30. In public comments, CEO Helga Bryant has made it clear she has serious concerns with doctors taking on shifts that amount to an entire day. She said she has talked to the physicians about ceasing 24-hour shifts but added the doctors 'quite enjoy' the arrangement. Bryant said that as long as the doctors have a contract in place, they are in control of managing their work. She is hardly alone in her concerns about the lengthy ER shifts. A 2011 Globe and Mail article stated: 'Studies have found (medical) residents who work around the clock make more serious, life-threatening mistakes and more diagnostic errors than those on shorter shifts.' The article quoted an official with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, who said many provinces are considering reduced hours for medical residents. Also last year, a Quebec labour arbitrator ruled that 24-hour shifts pose a danger to medical residents' health. Meanwhile, the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends that medical residents work no more than 16 consecutive hours during their first year after graduation. Flin Flon doctors are paid about $6,300 for a 24-hour shift. ER doctors in The Pas do not have shifts that long.
