New Brunswick’s official opposition took aim at the province’s new health plan for the first time since it was unveiled last week.
Opposition leader Roger Melanson specifically targeted the lack of plan for recruitment and retention of health-care workers in New Brunswick.
He said the plan focuses largely on technological improvements but not on the root of the problem in New Brunswick. Melanson argues New Brunswick is not competitive enough against other provinces that are attracting health-care workers, like doctors and nurses, to their region over New Brunswick.
“That plan doesn’t address that,” he said speaking with reporters.
Premier Blaine Higgs, though, said the plan helps address the system as a whole. It wires in the improvements needed to ensure connectivity and access.
The plan was unveiled on Nov. 17 and included many sweeping changes including the New Brunswick Primary Care Network.
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Shephard says starting in early 2022, patients who are registered with Patient Connect NB will be able to schedule an in-person or virtual appointment with a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
The priorities include reducing surgical wait times by 50 per cent and wait times for adult high-priority addiction and mental health services by 40 per cent.
A chief focus is use of technology for such things as virtual appointments and self-scheduling for diagnostic tests like blood work and X-rays. Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said much of the current system is outdated, noting that laboratory technicians have to rely on fax machines to transfer information.
“We will explore many new ways to incorporate technology in our health system over the next two years,” Shephard told reporters during a virtual news conference on Nov. 17.
But when Higgs was asked how a system is sustainable if there aren’t enough human resources, Higgs said he understands that argument.
“What is the right level of human resources? I mean I don’t have that number. I don’t have any predisposed number, and there in lies in the challenge, right,” he said.
As for other provinces competing for resources, he says it’s difficult. Richer provinces, he said, will have an advantage, something he said he has discussed with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He added it’s about ensuring the New Brunswick health-care system is viable for all areas under the Canada Health Act.
Melanson said the plan just lacked a clear definable goal or target.
When asked what his party’s plan would look like, he said it would involved a human resources plan.
The New Brunswick Nurses Association estimates about 41 per cent of registered nurses are expected to retire in the next few years. Similar numbers are estimated for doctors in the province.
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