For a building that frequently harbours division, there was some level of unity in Province House on Wednesday as they discussed how the provincial government is faring with its mental health care system.
“Can we do a better job? Absolutely,” said Peter Vaughan, Nova Scotia’s deputy minister of health and wellness.
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Along with several other politicians and officials, he attended a meeting of the standing committee on public accounts Wednesday morning. The topic focused on the funding of mental health services and programs, and mental health and addictions.
“The people who are making the decisions over what help should be delivered are seeming to think the system’s working just fine, and it’s really not,” said Pictou East Tim Houston MLA.
One of the issues he brought up was last year’s closure of the Aberdeen Hospital’s mental health unit in New Glasgow, N.S., due a staffing shortage.
Refocusing resources
Janet Knox, president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said that resources have been refocused on emergency and community support.
“At the moment, we will continue in that situation as we look at what are the standards that we need to meet across the province for inpatient beds,” said Knox.
“There are better services being provided at the moment,” said Dr. Linda Courey, senior director of Mental Health and Addictions of the Nova Scotia Health Authority, regarding the community.
“It’s very offensive to me to hear you say that this is better,” said Houston.
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Courey said that beds are available for people who need them elsewhere in the province. Knox sdded the goal is to figure out by the end of the year where the beds are needed in the province.
Maureen MacDonald, acting Nova Scotia NDP Leader, said the government is not improving the system fast enough, and that important services are being cut.
“This is not the mental health system that we need to respond to people in the province,” she said.
Part of the blame was placed on the merging of health authorities.
“Not all units were meeting standards, and so now that we have the consolidation, we’re able to work towards achieving those standards,” said Vaughan.
Both opposition parties said the state of mental health care in the province is an issue they’ll continue to tackle. Houston said a public inquiry is needed.
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