Nova Scotia Health Department rolls out plan to deliver improved emergency care quicker
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Opposition leaders Zach Churchill and Claudia Chender are not convinced the mountain has moved.
“Where are the new workers coming from?” Churchill, the Liberal leader, wanted to know. “We have a vacancy rate of up to 80 per cent in some of our hospitals. They are making new positions to deal with the crisis in our ERs. … We did not hear anything today about a recruitment plan or even a retention plan. Are we going to be robbing Peter to pay Paul to fill these positions, are they going to come from other places in the system where nurses are also needed, where staff are also needed.”
Chender, the leader of the NDP, said any announcement that can improve medical outcomes for Nova Scotians is a good thing.
“It’s the non-details in terms of timing and cost and we didn’t hear nearly enough about retention,” Chender said. “Not only do we have a massive recruitment issue, but we are losing health-care workers.”
Chender said the announcement didn’t address wages despite the reality that wages for nurses, LPNs and paramedics in Nova Scotia aren’t keeping up with colleagues across the country.
“These ideas have been around for years,” Chender said. “This government promised to fix health care and the clock is ticking.”
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