Address Deaths in Nova Scotian ERs - QP
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : I want to ask the Premier about the state of Nova Scotia emergency rooms. Freedom of Information data released to our caucus shows that there have been more deaths in emergency rooms in the last nine months than there were for the entire previous year or the five years before that. This government is failing to address a crisis in our emergency rooms, and it's resulting in more deaths. As a Halifax Infirmary staff person said in the paper yesterday, quote: "the crisis is constant." What is the government doing to deal with the constant crisis in our emergency rooms?
THE PREMIER « » : We all want the best possible outcomes for Nova Scotians when they visit an emergency department, but the very nature of an emergency department means that the reality is that not everyone who goes to an emergency room can be saved. That's why they're emergency departments. We will continue to work to support those working in health care. I know the minister was at the Halifax Infirmary this morning, and at that time there were two people in the waiting room and zero off-loads waiting to happen. I know the team at the Halifax Infirmary has been innovative in the way that they're coming up with suggestions on how to help support Nova Scotians who are arriving there. We all want the best outcomes for Nova Scotians. I think that what I would encourage the member opposite to do is to share the full information, not just little snippets out of context.
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Here's some information that's not an anecdotal story: On Monday of this week, the Halifax Infirmary's score on the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale was 354, which according to a hospital staff member is disaster. It's been in disaster mode for months. Rural ERs are closed, people don't have family doctor, and people are arriving at our ERs sicker and sicker. More deaths in the first nine months of this year than in the entire last year and the five before that. While the Premier fails to make improvements in ER wait times, people are dying. My question to the Premier is: When is this government going to do something for the people waiting and waiting in emergency rooms?
THE PREMIER « » : We have issues in health care, there's no question, and our emergency departments often feel the brunt of that. There's no question about that, and that is where people should go when they're extremely sick. There are also other situations where maybe another course of access to care is more appropriate. That's why we've opened up so many channels. The pharmacy clinics are getting national recognition. You might not hear it opposite, but nationally getting recognition - the mobile clinics - national recognition.
Just yesterday - I'm so proud of the minister and the team - they launched an app. It was the fourth-most-downloaded app in the country, I believe. The purpose of the app is to get people to the appropriate care at the appropriate time. Appropriate care is often an emergency department, but not always.
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : The numbers don't lie. Spin doesn't work here. That app was pushed to every government phone in Nova Scotia, so let's see who actually downloaded it and whose phone it showed up on.
Speaker, the Freedom of Information data shows that it's not just the number of people who are dying, it's the proportion of people dying in emergency rooms that is growing. As a hospital staff member said, people die in the ambulance hallway. On Monday at 4:00 p.m., there are nine in the ambulance hallway. The patient who has waited the longest has waited 113 hours and 39 minutes. I'll table that.
My question to the Premier is: How much longer will people have to wait before this government does something not about apps, not about pharmacy clinics, but about the crisis in our emergency rooms?
THE PREMIER « » : All of these things are interrelated. There is no one single solution. That's why they're all important.
I would just encourage the member to share the full information. Obviously our population is growing, obviously our population is aging. Of course when you have more people aging you have more visits, but when you look at the proportion, the proportions are steady.
Of course, the member is making comparisons over a period of time, which included COVID, where emergency departments were often closed. There was an incredibly sharp decline during that period of time, so everything is relative.
The work that is being done by this government, under that minister, is leading the country in fixing health care.