B.C. paramedics say staffing levels 'reaching critical,' lengthening ambulance wait times

The union representing almost 6,000 ambulance paramedics and dispatchers in British Columbia is sounding an alarm on staffing levels "reaching critical" in the province.

In a statement, the Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia CUPE 873 says members are reporting "dozens and dozens" of empty ambulances, with "hundreds" of unfilled positions across the province. 

Union president Jason Jackson said in the statement that workers have tried to engage with B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), which he says imposed an overtime ban on Jan. 1 to cut costs. 

Jackson says the ban on overtime has resulted in cuts to staffing as well as slower response times, and as much as 25 per cent of ambulances in B.C. are "commonly unstaffed" on a daily basis.

Those who have non-critical cases may be waiting for an ambulance "for a long time" given the current staffing conditions, he adds.

Minister denies overtime ban

B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne denied there is an overtime ban in place, saying during a news conference on a separate topic on Monday that reports of a shortfall are also not accurate.

"There is a shortfall right now that's been identified of about $35 million, but we expect that to be accommodated by the fiscal year-end," Osborne told reporters. "So reports of a shortfall that is bigger than that just just aren't accurate."

In a statement, the Provincial Health Services Authority, which represents BCEHS, said that it closely monitors staffing levels across B.C. and takes action to fill vacant shifts as quickly as it can, which includes moving resources or using overtime.

But the paramedics say BCEHS isn't pre-scheduling overtime as it used to do, and instead calls paramedics and dispatchers in a "panic" to try to fill what it says are "obvious and predictable vacancies immediately before, or during the shift, with little success."

CBC News has reached out to the union to clarify Osborne's comments regarding overtime.

"Historically, what they do is they pre-schedule overtime and other ways of staffing ambulances," said Ian Tait, the communications director for the union, on Saturday. "And for some reason, in January, they decided no longer to pre-schedule in advance and kind of do like a day-by-day thing.

"They came up with all sorts of different algorithms and matrixes on when they would offer overtime and how and where. And it's turned out to be a pretty significant disaster for ambulance staffing."

BCEHS said that it has paid for overtime hours over the past week and that "recent in-service trends are consistent over the past few months."

B.C. Conservative rural health-care critic Brennan Day says in a statement that the staffing shortage is a "public safety crisis," and he's calling on the NDP government to do more to support paramedics and rural communities that depend on them.