Nova Scotia’s Auditor General has just released his report on the state of health care in the province.
Michael Pickup focused on three areas: family doctor resourcing, mental health services and managing home care support contracts.
Pickup says while government has a plan to recruit more family physicians, they’re doing a poor job of letting the public know what it is.
He says access to mental health care is inconsistent and a province-wide plan is needed.
And Pickup is concerned government still hasn’t acted on eight recommendations to address weaknesses in home care that were identified nine years ago.
In response, Health and Wellness Minister Randy Delorey acknowledges the AG’s report,
Delorey says the province is making progress on several fronts and is committed to addressing concerns.
Response to Auditor General Report https://t.co/Fl1gK0GZV9
— Nova Scotia Gov. (@nsgov) November 22, 2017
Meanwhile, the leader of Nova Scotia’s NDP, Gary Burrill says the problem with health care is government’s failure to listen.
Burrill says once the Nova Scotia Health Authority was created, the ability to make change at the local level was cut off.
“If you speak to health care providers on the South Shore and you say what is the problem you’re experiencing? Over and over again, they’ll say, well, we can’t get anybody in Halifax to listen.”
Burrill says the answers to a number of health care issues can be found by talking to the front line workers who experience the problems everyday.
The NDP leader also says he’s raised health care issues numerous times with the Premier in the legislature.
Burrill says Stephen McNeil refuses to identify the state of health care in the province as a crisis.
“Emergency rooms that aren’t reliable in Lunenburg, in Shelburne and New Waterford and Glace Bay, these are not pockets. What you have is not a pocket, but a pattern. And a pattern of systemic breakdown, there’s a name for that. The name is crisis.”
Burrill says if you don’t understand you are in a crisis, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to fix it.
Patients deserve better mental health services and access to primary care #nspoli #cbpoli @TammyMartinMLA https://t.co/7tTbSsXLMT
— Nova Scotia NDP (@NSNDP) November 22, 2017
