BY PAMELA FAYERMAN

My story about Fraser Health anesthesiologists working at Surrey Memorial Hospital being threatened with firing if they don’t agree to a dedicated, round-the-clock obstetric service begs the question:

Why has the government not introduced nurse anesthetists to BC since there’s such a shortage of specialist physicians and contract disputes are common?

It’s something the health minister pledged to consider years ago.

Here’s what Laura Heinze, speaking on behalf of health minister Terry Lake, said:

“The concept of introducing nurse anesthetists in British Columbia was raised by previous Health Minister Mike de Jong several years ago. The nurse anesthetist role exists in other jurisdictions, but introducing a new provider role can be a significant undertaking. “The Ministry looked at the feasibility of introducing nurse practitioner and registered nurse anesthetist roles into BC’s health care system – while it would require time to implement such a program, it was thought to be a viable option. “In the interim period, there have been many other competing priorities that have taken precedence over the introduction of this role; however, it is something that we are still very aware of, and in fact we have been in discussion with the BCNU and others about introducing new roles to optimize the scope of practice for nurses, so there is the potential for further work on this issue over the next year. “In addition, there is presently an Anesthesia Assistant program in BC offered through TRU, and the Ministry is in the process of reviewing the education and training requirements for that role with the possibility of expanding the use of Anesthesia Assistants in the province.”

In other words, BC is not even close to catching the trend in other countries around the world.

Dr. Roy Morton, vice-president of medicine at Fraser Health and a retired anesthesiologist, said patient safety and quality of care concerns spurred the warning letters sent to anesthesiologists. The letters stated that the doctors’ privileges to practice at Surrey Memorial will be revoked March 1, 2017 if the parties don’t come to terms.

The anesthesiologists are like private consultants, not employees, but all doctors must have privileges to work at hospitals. The letters about privileges being revoked gave one year of notice, as per hospital bylaws.

Morton said the hospital and health authority have been negotiating for the past five years with anesthesiologists for round-the-clock availability because there are a growing number of babies being born at the hospital (about 4,300 in the past year.)