NS opposition parties say more needed to reduce mental health service wait times

Opposition parties say there is not enough being done by the Nova Scotia government to reduce wait times for mental health services.

“The minister stated in the house, in a response to a question about mental health, that mental health services are better today than they were a year ago. I don’t buy that,” Dave Wilson, health critic for the Nova Scotia NDP, said.

He mentioned government data that shows maximum wait times for 90 per cent of adult patients of community-based mental health services can be as little 38 days in New Glasgow to 253 in Sydney.

Halifax’s wait times are 108 days, and provincially it’s 101 days.

“We all can stand in that house of assembly and support better services, we can all support better funding, but unless we really take a look how our services are delivered in the first place and actually fix it – I mean, that’s in the government’s hands,” Opposition House Leader Chris d’Entremont said.

READ MORE: More concerns raised about treatment of suicidal people in NS emergency rooms

Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine said there are problems in the system.

“We do get in that queue where it is much longer than certainly what is needed to give the best of the care,” he said, adding that people who need acute care do get it.

A mental health program is in the works to help alleviate the issue.

“The emphasis on the early years is going to help substantially further out,” Glavine said.

People struggling on wait lists will have to wait for now, but work is under way to reduce the lists within a year.