In a news release Thursday, Argyle-Barrington MLA and PC Health critic Chris d’Entremont d’Entremont called on Health minister Leo Glavine to deliver on the governments promises to provide funding for sexual assault support services in Southwestern Nova Scotia. Saying that sexual assault survivors still waiting for nurse examiner program in Southwest Nova, the release said that the Liberal government announced program would be in place by late 2015
d’Entremont says he wants to know why the McNeil Liberals are "making sexual assault survivors wait for important services they’ve been promised."
In May, says the release, the Liberal government announced that the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) Program would be up and running in Sydney and Southwestern Nova Scotia by late 2015, but that there is still no indication that there is any plan to move this vital service forward.
“Some of the most vulnerable Nova Scotians and their families were promised that help is on the way,” says d’Entremont. “Instead, they’ve been left with broken promises and unanswered questions. How can they trust the Liberals to ever keep their word?”
On Feb. 29, the CBC reported that the Nova Scotia Health Authority and Department of Health and Wellness have “neither specific plans nor recommendations in place” to expand sexual assault nursing services to the Southwestern region of the province.
“Minister Glavine announced back in May that this would happen in late 2015, but his own department doesn’t have a plan,” says d’Entremont. “He has to answer for these delays and tell the people of Southwestern Nova Scotia when they can expect this much-needed service.”
The release asserts that a family doctor from Kentville attended training with a SANE nurse and indicated the lack of these services could cause “retraumatization to an already traumatized patient”.
d’Entremont says sexual violence against anyone must always be condemned, but if it happens, there should be proper supports in place to help people.
