We ‘need a different system,’ woman says after 2.5-hour wait for ambulance in Halifax
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This latest reported incident — which NDP leader Claudia Chender recounted during Question Period on Friday — raises several questions. In the past year, the Houston government has hired another 100 non-paramedic drivers to move patients between hospitals to free up paramedics so they can answer emergency calls. According to the health minister, percentage of paramedics’ time spent on patient transfers has dropped from 85% to 22%.
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Keeping the paramedics who do graduate is another big issue. Chender says Nova Scotia has an excellent reputation for training, but many people who graduate then leave for other provinces where the wages are higher.
Premier: it’s ‘disrespectful’ to say changes aren’t working
Premier Tim Houston acknowledged adequate compensation is “part of the equation” in solving ongoing frustrations with the emergency health system. Chender noted that despite more drivers and other changes to improve patient flow at the emergency departments at major hospitals, stories like those about Kevin continue to surface.
Here’s a portion of the final exchange between Chender and Houston on this topic during today’s Question Period:
Chender:
Ambulance response times have got longer and longer despite the direct-to-transfer system instituted this spring. The average off-load times are climbing as well [where ambulances wait to hand over patients at Emergency Departments]. Whatever this government is doing is not working. This government ran on an election promise to fix health care. When will we see the results?
Houston:
It’s very easy to get impatient. But I ask Nova Scotians to trust the people working on the front lines of health care who are bending over backwards to fix the foundations of a very broken system. It will take time; I wish it was faster but to say the things that are taking place aren’t working is disrespectful to our health care professionals who are driving that change.
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