South Coast Today - nova scotia health care

Opinion: Govt wants to hear about home care

Guest Editorial — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 15:13:50 +0000

There has been a lot of talk lately about home care in our province. I would like to be clear that government is absolutely committed to quality home care in Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotians want to stay in their homes as long as possible and this government is committed to helping people do just that. To support people, we need a well-funded, quality home-care system that meets the needs of Nova Scotians.

This is why, since 2013, government has added $44 million to the home-care budget. We now support 15,539 clients, and taxpayers spend $241 million a year on home-care service. This is almost a quarter of a billion dollars.

Despite this investment, it is clear there are still challenges: the population is rapidly aging, there are wait lists, accountability measures need tightening and we need a more efficient system.

This is why government is working on measures to improve the system -- a plan that will put the needs of clients first.

To ensure this plan meets the needs of Nova Scotians, we need to hear from home-care clients and their caregivers. We need to hear from average Nova Scotians about what they expect from home care as they and their families age.

So, in the coming days, I will be reaching out to begin a discussion with all Nova Scotians about the future of our home-care system and what people expect. This discussion will help government move forward with a plan to improve home-care service delivery in the province.

When we begin our survey, I encourage all Nova Scotians to participate. It will be our chance to help shape the future of home care.

Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine

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NDP demands explanation of $41.5 million in healthcare cuts

Timothy Gillespie — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 17:27:59 +0000

PC MLA claims $300 million "discrepancy" by Grits

The McNeil government needs to outline specifically what its $41.5 million Healthcare cut, announced today, will impact, according to a news release Wednesday from the NDP .

Progressive Conservative Health critic Chris d’Entremont says in a news release Wednesday that, in fact, McNeil Liberals must answer for a $300 million discrepancy in the Nova Scotia Health Authority budget.

Today, says d'Entremont, the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) released its business plan with a budget of over $1.82 billion. The budget passed by the Liberals in April only budgeted $1.52 billion for the NSHA. The Liberals, he says, have been unable to provide a good explanation for the difference.

“This speaks to the incompetence of the Liberal government,” said d’Entremont. “If the Liberals cannot even get the numbers right on paper or explain them, how can we trust them with patient care?”

According to the NSHA Business Plan budget, administration went up $33.3 million, meanwhile mental health funding went down $25.6 million.

d’Entremont says the Liberals must answer for the major discrepancy in the numbers.

“Our population is aging, waitlists are getting longer and longer. People need certainty health care will be there for them when they need it,” said d’Entremont. “This merger is too important for the Liberals to get it wrong.”

Earlier this morning, the NDP release stated, without a formal announcement or media briefing, the provincial health authority released its 2015-16 business plan which contained more than $41 million worth of “mitigations” to health care programs and services.

The NDP also complained that, while the plan contains categories from which cuts will be made, it provides no explanation for how the proposed spending reductions will be achieved.

“Instead of releasing this document on time, the McNeil government waited until after the spring sitting of the Legislature was over, and then quietly sent it out with the Premier out of the province,” says NDP Leader Maureen MacDonald. “Specifically, which programs are being cut to provide these savings? How will the cuts impact various regions of the province? Is the government considering outsourcing and privatizing laundry and food services? If they intend to increase revenue through fees such as parking, what specifically will these increases be?

The business plan, which one political analyst told SCT "looks like an 18-page flyer", was described as indicating significant spending reductions in areas such as acute care, mental health services and addictions services, without any formal explanation for how the reductions are being achieved.

“The public deserves to know the specifics of this business plan. Unfortunately, the McNeil government has once again failed to be open and transparent, which will undoubtedly bring more turmoil to our health care system,” says MacDonald.

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ER problems a crisis, say opposition parties

Timothy Gillespie — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 16:31:34 +0000

400% increase in ER closures at Roseway Hospital
Govt has done "nothing, says PC critic, while lives at stake

NDP MLA Sterling Belliveau says the constant Emergency Room closures at Roseway Hospital in Shelburne need to stop. He says the fact that families in the region don’t have access to local emergency care at the height of winter is cause for concern.

Belliveau made the comments in a news release Friday after learning Roseway Emergency Room is closed again today. So far this year the hospital has been closed more than 200 hours. This time last year it had only been closed 39 hours which equates to a more than 400 per cent increase in hours of closures, according to department figures.

“While the McNeil government has been off picking fights with health care unions over the past year and a half, patient care has suffered province-wide,” says Belliveau. “In HRM emergency rooms are overcrowded, in Shelburne the ER has been closed altogether and it’s unacceptable.”

He added, “Premier McNeil and his Health Minister have been well aware of the nursing shortage at Roseway since September. They owe people in Shelburne an explanation for why they have done nothing about it for almost six months.”

Progressive Conservative health critic Chris d’Entremont also weighed in via a news release Friday, saying that Health Minister Leo Glavine’s suggestion that the critical backlog in Halifax ERs is merely “cyclical” is completely misleading.

The PC Caucus obtained information from the Department of Health that shows that as of February 18, 2015, there are 66 people in Capital District Health Authority waiting in hospital for long-term care. There are 256 people across the province in the same situation. The highest number of people is in the Cape Breton District Health Authority with 72.

d’Entremont says the Liberals have done nothing to address the long-term care crisis and it’s causing serious backlogs in other areas of our health care system.

“The top ER doctor at Halifax Infirmary says they have resources for 36 beds in the Emergency Room, but more than half of those are being used by patients waiting to move to other units,” d’Entremont said. “For the Minister to place the blame back on the hospitals and chalk it up to “the flu” is insulting to health care professionals and does nothing to address the problem.”

d’Entremont says these numbers are further proof that the issue is directly due to a lack of a competent plan from the Liberals.

“There’s little comfort in the Minister’s words for the family of an elderly patient who is getting sicker waiting to be seen,” d’Entremont said. “We need to see leadership from the McNeil government to deal with this issue now. To put it bluntly, lives are at stake.”

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