“problems, generally, that have been going on not as long are easier to fix. the longer and more entrenched a thought becomes or a behaviour becomes, the harder it is to fix it,” she said.
the health authority is so impressed with the effect the triage nurse has had on wait times that it is hiring two additional nurses. one will start in december and another in january.
an important part of this triaging model was a change in how the health authority pays child and adolescent psychiatrists in saskatoon. the specialists used to be paid by a fee-for-service model, which meant they would only be compensated for treating patients referred to them by family physicians. in april, child and adolescent psychiatrists were moved to a contract payment model, which means they are paid to be part of the team triaging meetings.
the health authority says it has also hired an additional child and adolescent psychiatrist in saskatoon who will start work in december.
“we’ve made
a lot of progress
in the last year,” felstrom said.
“there will never be enough child and adolescent psychiatrists, probably, to meet the needs, we’ll never get 40 people, so we have to be really smart in how we’re using our time.”