Mayor confident Toronto will fix 'hiccups' in $17M scheduling system slammed by some paramedics
Lauren Pelley | CBC News | Posted: August 9, 2017 10:00 PM | Last Updated: August 9, 2017
Safety concerns from paramedics prompted city to undertake risk assessment this summer
Mayor John Tory says he's confident the city will fix the "hiccups" in a $17 million scheduling system that's led some paramedics to ring alarm bells about patient safety.
The city has "brought in some outside help to help fix those problems, and they certainly understand from me that I want to see those things fixed as soon as possible," Tory said on Wednesday.
The mayor's comments follow a CBC Toronto investigation into paramedics' concerns about the software. While the city maintains that the software is safe, "administrative issues" stemming from its use by Toronto Paramedic Services over the past six months have prompted staff to undertake a roughly $100,000 risk assessment this summer.
Mike Merriman, the service's current representative with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, is among those concerned that the scheduling software from American company Kronos Inc. is "putting public safety at risk" on an almost daily basis because on-duty paramedics don't always show up in the system, leading them to miss nearby calls.
'No danger' to the public
Internal paramedic emails obtained by CBC Toronto outline numerous glitches dating back to the system's launch for Toronto Paramedic Services in February, including several cases where on-duty paramedics were not able to sign into the system or did not show up as "on duty," and one night in July where a system issue meant there was no critical care coverage for 97 minutes.
But Tory said the chief of Toronto Paramedic Services, Gord McEachen, assured him there has been "no danger to anyone's health or wellbeing as a result of this."
"As I understand it, the bugs relate mainly to things like people who are working unexpectedly on a given day," Tory said, adding the software system is having trouble "tracking their availability."
Still, Merriman is concerned about both safety issues and the rising costs associated with city's adoption of the Kronos system, which is meant to eventually roll out through the entire organization.
The city's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department also adopted the system in November last year.
"I'm hoping they go back to the old system," Merriman said. "There's nothing else they can do right now to make sure the public is not in jeopardy."
The city's risk assessment, being conducted by external firm Deloitte, will evaluate the risk of continuing to operate the Kronos system for Toronto Paramedic Services.
In a statement, Kronos Inc. said it stands by the safety of its software and has a policy of not speaking on behalf of its customers.