REGINA – The Saskatchewan government and the NDP are not on the same page when it comes to how much funding health care is getting in the 2014 budget.
The health ministry is receiving a three per cent increase over last year, which is nearly five billion dollars overall.
“Regional health authorities on average will see an increase in their budgets of about 3.4 per cent, which is significant in a fairly tight budget,” said Health Minister Dustin Duncan.
The opposition NDP says paying for the Lean initiative, among other reductions, means the budget actually calls for a $51.9 million cut from health care.
“Each year though we do ask our regional health authorities and cancer agency to find efficiencies and so we’ve set another target this year. But even with the efficiencies factored in, the budget for the health regions and the ministry are going up,” said Duncan.
However for front-line workers looking for money to address specific needs, the tight budget might not be enough.
“Two thirds of our membership are telling us that patient safety has not improved and in fact has even gone down in our facilities across Saskatchewan,” said the president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, Tracy Zambory. “The Lean does not take into account the changing human condition.”
“Especially in long-term care homes, which they talked about building, if you don’t have the staff to provide the care to the people that live there, then it’s just a building. It’s not a home,” said the treasurer of SEIU-West, Janice Platzke.
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The government is also highlighting money for seniors care, but the NDP says there’s nothing new that we didn’t know before budget day.
“There’s not a single new dollar to address the pressing needs in long-term and personal care homes,” said NDP health critic, Danielle Chartier.
The budget does include a $1.7 million investment in reducing emergency room wait times to limit the number of visits by frequent users.
“It’s going to make a large different to a small number of people so you identify individuals with very special needs and you customize their case plan based on those needs,” said Dr. David McCutcheon with the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region.
The wait times pilot project is expected to be rolled out by this summer.
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