The Saskatchewan NDP says a leaked letter from health-care workers at the Regina General Hospital indicates that patients have died after not receiving urgent life-saving care due to severe staffing shortages.

According to the letter obtained by the Saskatchewan NDP, the severe shortages are in the hospital’s Interventional Radiology (IR) unit. The letter is signed by 15 radiology technologists and nurses.

It reads that: “a lack of physician coverage has already resulted in cases where patients did not receive life-saving interventions in time.”

The NDP said the letter also details that six of the 10 IR technologists and five of the nine nursing positions have not been filled, patient procedures are being delayed due to a physician shortage and declining mental health and resignations are occurring because of unsustainable working conditions.

The letter also claims that procedure rooms are being used by other programs, which is causing delays, longer patient wait times and increased overtime for staff. The NDP also said the letter mentions a lack of training for new hires and that a multi-million-dollar radiology suite at Regina’s Pasqua Hospital is not being used due to a lack of staff.

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said he received the letter during question period Thursday and will be reviewing it to better understand what is taking place.

“I just received the letter about 90 seconds ago. We take these issues seriously and will be reviewing the letter and understanding what’s happening at Regina General Hospital’s Interventional Radiology unit. We understand that these services are absolutely important to the people of this province not just here in [Regina] but right across southern Saskatchewan.” Cockrill told reporters.

Speaking to reporters following question period, Cockrill said the Saskatchewan Health Authority recently signed contracts with two Regina based radiology groups run by physicians that will bring additional services to the city’s hospitals.

“So obviously, as we get those agreements up and running and in place that should help to stabilize radiology services. We are also training registered nurses to do PICC lines in Regina, something RNs do in other communities around the province … Again, that will help to ease the burden and patients get faster service.”

Cockrill said the agreements were signed in the past couple of months.

NDP MLA Meara Conway suggested that while Cockrill may have just seen the letter Thursday, a news conference they held in October brought the ongoing issues to light.

“So, for the health minister to somehow suggest that he’s not aware of these issues is just not believable in my view,” she said, adding that Cockrill also met with staff where he was briefed on the ongoing concerns.

One of the signatories of the letter, Gerri Grant, was a radiologic technologist for 17 years in Regina. She resigned last summer because of the ongoing pressures mentioned in the letter.

Grant said the letter was written less than one month ago and confirmed it was not sent to the Ministry of Health initially.

“Ultimately, I gave up a really fabulous and engaging career. Just watching my co-workers struggle, myself struggle with that work-life balance, we were taking on-call hours at an excessive rate, watching patients suffer – I couldn’t see that anymore,” she said.

Grant added that she saw the delays in care harm patients and said it ultimately it became something she could no longer handle.

“This has been a problem for many years,” she said. “It’s just getting worse now.”