Health care fixes needed sooner rather than later: Expert

HALIFAX – Multiple reports outline the fixes needed for Nova Scotia’s health care system, but those reports are collecting dust, said one long time health care expert.

“The blue prints for reform are definitely there, and they’ve been there for a long time,” said Martine Durier-Copp the executive director of the 1990 Nova Scotia Royal Commission on Health Care, and a professor at Dalhousie University. “There have been some measures that have been implemented, but certainly not the full scope that was recommended.”

The challenges facing Nova Scotia’s health care system were put on the front burner, Wednesday, when the chief of emergency at the QEII said his staff are operating in “disaster” mode.

“We’ve got a system that is clearly not managing the load that has been thrust upon it, all of the tweaks and the internal changes have been made, so now changes have to come from outside,” said Dr. Sam Campbell, chief of emergency at the QEII.

The backlog in the emergency department at the QEII are just one example of a problem in a system riddled with them, said Durier-Copp, who added the report she worked on and ones tabled since then, show the path froward.

“The evidence is there, the need is compelling and economically and financially there’s no turning back, it has to happen, and it has to happen soon.”

Both the premier and health minister waded into the debate on Thursday, saying the Liberal government is working to fix the system.

“We need to be able to do things more efficiently, more effectively, that’s why we’ve actually tried to streamline the administration side and the service delivery model,” said Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil.

But the government has been criticized by the opposition parties for focusing too much on overhauling the administrative side at the expense of front-line care. McNeil rejected that idea, arguing the money saved in administrative changes will be reinvested into services. But a timeline for when other changes will be made or what the specific changes would be hasn’t been released.

Durier-Copp suggested politicians should move ahead with implementing the changes already proposed, rather than more study. She said a leadership group should be established to “draft implementation strategies with timelines established, and milestones to be reached,” she said, suggesting the auditor general could be asked to monitor the progress.

“For some reason its been very difficult in Nova Scotia to get to that (implementation) stage, other provinces have been much more emphatic in announcing and implementing the kinds of reform measures that will allow for sustainability.”