Resource crisis has led to 'countless' close calls at Surrey Memorial, OBGYNs say

The list of physicians speaking out about a resourcing crisis at hospitals in B.C.'s Lower Mainland grew Monday to include dozens of doctors working within the obstetrician and gynecology units at Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH).

More than two-thirds of women's health providers at the hospital have signed a letter saying critically inadequate resources are compromising patient safety, resulting in an untold number of close calls and the death of a newborn in 2020.

"It's scary. I've had many colleagues come to me and say, 'Every day I'm afraid. I'm afraid of what's going to happen to our patients. I'm afraid of litigation. I'm afraid for our nursing colleagues,'" said Dr. Claudine Storness-Bliss, an obstetrician and gynecologist who is co-lead at the department.

"It's a storm."

Storness-Bliss said her team was inspired to publish its own letter after more than 100 emergency physicians from several Fraser Health hospitals came forward over the last two weeks about the crisis in their own departments.

Doctors from Surrey Memorial, Royal Columbian and Eagle Ridge hospitals backed letters that tell a similar story: an acute staffing problem has pushed strained emergency rooms over the edge, leaving doctors exhausted and patients getting sub-par, "undignified" care in cramped hallways.

On Monday, the OBGYN team in Surrey said its problems stem from disproportionate funding. The letter said the family birthing unit at SMH serves more people than B.C. Women's Hospital and St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver but only has "half the number of beds."

"The strain on our resources prevents our team from delivering care that is required and expected, directly resulting in poor outcomes which fall sharply below the standard for a tertiary level maternity care centre in our province," the letter read, referring to the highly specialized care available at the hospital.

"This mismatch in resources has resulted in one newborn death, countless near misses and moral injury to our care providers."

Storness-Bliss said she could not speak further on the infant's death but said it was "very obvious" that resourcing problems were "at play." 

CBC News has contacted Fraser Health and B.C.'s Ministry of Health for comment on the latest letter.

Gynecologists waiting for operating room access, letter says

On top of the funding issue, the OBGYN team said its gynecologists' "extremely limited access" to the operating room means average wait times for those procedures are 77 per cent longer than the benchmark set by the province.

"I'm one of the busiest surgeons here ... And I spend most of the days like today in the office, apologizing to patients for how long they have to wait," said Storness-Bliss. "These women are suffering, often with lots of pain."

The letter said patients waiting for surgery with a gynecologist "are suffering from significant pelvic disease." It said they often need multiple blood transfusions or costly pain medication while they wait and are sometimes forced to take extended periods of time away from work.

With one exception, CBC News has withheld the identities of emergency room physicians who signed letters in recent days because they feared repercussions from their employer. Storness-Bliss said she was proud to come forward by name in defence of her team.

"I continue to believe we have the best team. We have all the tools to help people, and we do continue to move mountains to help patients as we need to. Any patient that is struggling, that needs help, please come. We will take care of you," she said in an interview Monday.

"We have the tools. We have the technology. We have the staff with the knowledge and ability to take care of those patients.

"In a perfect world, it is the best hospital to have a baby."

Surrey Memorial Hospital is one of the busiest hospitals in B.C., serving as the home hospital for one of the fastest-growing communities in the province. In their letter, doctors said they oversee around 6,000 deliveries every year.