Health care on hold Additional phone lines, staffing recruitment aim to address Health Links hang-ups
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/11/2020 (1544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
People calling Health Links for information and COVID-19 test results have waited up to nearly eight hours on hold in recent weeks, freedom of information documents show.
The province provided details on the longest wait times per day from Sept. 1 to Oct. 22. The longest wait was 7 hours, 31 minutes and 44 seconds on Sept. 29. On Sept. 7, the longest wait was 49 minutes and 27 seconds.
“Seven hours seems excessively long,” Shared Health’s chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa said Monday when asked about it at a COVID-19 media briefing.
On most days, callers waited more than four hours, according to the freedom of information data obtained by the NDP.
“This is maybe the least-surprising freedom of information request we’ve ever brought forward,” NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Monday.
“Everyone in Manitoba knows that Health Links is taking too long to respond to people’s questions,” he said.
“It’s not the fault of the people who work at Health Links,” Kinew said. “They’re swamped with the volume of calls. Where the failure is is with this government that hasn’t staffed up adequately to keep up with the increased call volume since the pandemic started.”
On just four days from Sept. 1 to Oct. 22, callers to Health Links waited less than one hour.
The average wait is now 162 minutes, Siragusa said Monday. “That is also too long,” she said.
Efforts are being made to improve access to Health Links with 200 more call lines added last week and 15 staff being hired and trained, Siragusa said. “The goal is to have 30 more staff there to help out. We are adding more resources to meet the demand.”
“They’re swamped with the volume of calls. Where the failure is is with this government that hasn’t staffed up adequately to keep up with the increased call volume since the pandemic started.” – NDP Leader Wab Kinew
Siragusa urged people waiting for COVID-19 test results to use the online patient portal rather than calling Health Links. So did a Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spokeswoman in an email.
“If your results are not in the portal, then they have not yet been processed: calling Health Links – Info Santé is not a faster option to get results,” said the WRHA.
Siragusa said it’s not just people trying to get their COVID-19 test results who are tying up the phones. More people are calling Health Links with more complicated questions, she said. “There’s some problem solving that takes more time,” and staff have to take the time to answer those questions, she said.
The unnamed spokeswoman for the WRHA said Monday that Health Links continues to experience extremely high call volumes that are commensurate with the rise in COVID-19 cases.
“Call volumes are more than 10 times higher than prior to the pandemic,” she said in an email. “In addition, many callers have increasingly complex concerns and requests that extend the duration of calls.”
Before the pandemic, Health Links received approximately 350 calls a day. On March 13 — the day after Manitoba’s first COVID-19 cases were announced — it received 894 calls. By April 6, Health Links was getting 2,273 calls a day.
“Nowadays, call volumes frequently exceed 4,000 calls,” the WRHA spokeswoman said Monday. The average wait time for staff at Health Links to answer a call is two and half hours, she said.
The number of times people called Health Links but gave up waiting and hung up isn’t known.
Since the outset of the pandemic, the WRHA has added phone lines to be able to add more callers into the queue, the spokeswoman said.
When one freedom of information request asked how many phone lines Health Links has, the province responded that the number is “limitless.”
“Call volumes are more than 10 times higher than prior to the pandemic. In addition, many callers have increasingly complex concerns and requests that extend the duration of calls.” – WRHA email
The technology does allow for a “limitless” system as phone lines and licences can continue to be purchased, but staff are required to answer the calls, the WRHA clarified on Monday.
“We are looking at every measure possible to shorten wait times: at the top of the list is intense staffing recruitment,” the WRHA spokeswoman said.
Newly hired staff are currently in waves of training and there should be a marked decrease in wait times within the coming weeks, she said.
Further assistance, such as upgraded technology and the possible redeployment of staff, is also being assessed.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.
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