The medical community in Meadow Lake, Sask., is raising concerns about a lack of resources after a backup doctor put in 72 straight hours of work.

The community of 5,000, which officially becomes a city on Nov. 9, is 300 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

Doctors say the area they cover has grown and new doctors moving to the area are few and far between.

Those who are there say everyone is putting in long hours.

"We had a doctor from Lloyd this weekend who did a 72-hour shift without a break," Meadow Lake's Dr. Gavin Van de Venter told CBC News, referring to the nearby city of Lloydminster.

"He worked to try and help us out and he has been doing it for a while. We have doctors from North Battleford drive up and try to help us out."

Despite the out-of-town assistance, Van de Venter said there are many times when no doctor is around.

"We probably have five to 10 nights a month where we don't have any doctor available," he said.

Unrealistic hours

Van de Venter said the community is staffed with three full-time and three half-time doctors. "We should be 13 to 15 doctors," he said.

Van de Venter said Saskatchewan seems to require that doctors put in unrealistic hours.

"In Spain, doctors have a 52-hour work week, not more than that," he said. "I know family practitioners in England who are allowed 40 hours a week and in some places 32."

In Saskatchewan, he said, the hours are much longer.

"As many hours as you can fit in," he said. "If a day was 28 hours, they'd expect you to work 28 hours a day."

The provincial government has been trying to increase the number of doctors in Saskatchewan.

Initiatives, including creation of a physician recruitment agency, are still in the development stage. Saskatchewan is also looking at making changes to how foreign doctors are screened.

"It's a time-consuming process," said Brad Havervold, a spokesman for the province's Health Ministry.

"There needs to be structures put in place to ensure, particularly on the assessment side, that we are assessing the right skills and abilities. So, our goal is within the fiscal year to have significant work done on that."