The staffing challenges in allied health professions affect patient care.
The allied health sector’s growing vacancy rates have compromised patient services, creating circumstances in which Manitobans find themselves waiting longer and travelling further from home to access the care they need.
For example:
- Waiting up to 10 minutes for response to a rural or Northern emergency medical 911 phone call due to staffing shortages.
- As of May 2023, ambulance response times had increased by roughly 30% since 2018 due to a staggering 40% vacancy rate among rural paramedics.
- More frequent intermittent closures of rural EDs, including Roblin and Eriksdale, forced to shut down for extended periods due to lack of diagnostic staff.
- Unacceptable wait times for diagnostic procedures, from MRIs to mammograms. Median wait times for MRIs rose to 20 weeks in 2023 and were as high as 34 weeks at Grace Hospital. In August 2024, MRI wait times at Health Sciences Centre reached a staggering 56 weeks.
- Climbing caseloads and vacancy rates for social workers in HSC’s Adult Emergency Department, who provide critical services to patients with complex needs and are vital to reducing ED wait times. In November 2024, the vacancy rate for HSC’s AED social workers rose to 48%.
Soaring vacancy rates have resulted in prolonged levels of overtime, eroding morale, and negative impacts on patient care.
- In May 2024, more than two-thirds of respondents to an MAHCP bargaining survey told us they were seriously considering leaving their job, with many also saying they were seriously considering leaving health-care altogether. Further, 60% felt the quality of patient and client care has gotten worse over the past five years.
- An independent survey of health-care workers and system analysis conducted by Deloitte in 2022 found that “a lack of psychological safety and insufficient wellness supports” were key drivers for low employee resilience and burnout. More than two-thirds (68%) of employees said they were experiencing burnout and more than half (54%) were seriously considering leaving their jobs.
- Although MAHCP made some headway in addressing long-standing wage disparities for some of our member disciplines during the last round of collective bargaining, wages for many high-demand allied health professions still lag behind other jurisdictions. Manitoba is not competitive.