Health Care Promises

NS: Premier promises better healthcare soon
By Staff, Transcontinental Media

Source: The Daily Business Buzz, Dec. 7/10

[HALIFAX, NS] – Premier Darrell Dexter and Minister of Health Maureen MacDonald have unveiled the government’s latest plan for improving this province’s medical system.

The strategy, dubbed the Better Care Sooner Plan, was announced today and promises to improve the quality of emergency care, reduce overcrowding and wait times for patients in emergency rooms, and provide better health care for families.

To accomplish all this, the government is leaning heavily on the report submitted by Dr. John Ross on the state of Nova Scotia’s emergency care delivery and what needs to be done to fix it. Taking its cue from Ross’ recommendations, the new strategy focuses on several over-arching themes:
• Improve access to primary care, especially in smaller communities. The goal here is to lessen the burden on emergency rooms and provide better care.
• Make emergency care more patient-centred and streamlined, thus shortening wait times and improving the quality of care across the province.
• Provide care that’s better tailored to those whose needs are more complex (i.e. seniors and people with mental illness).
• Increase public awareness of 911 and healthlink nurse line 811.

“This plan keeps emergency rooms open and gives communities access to emergency care day and night,” Dexter claims. “Communities that once had closed doors will soon have services matched to their needs. It will ensure people in this province get the level of care they need and deserve.”

Keeping ERs open was a key plank in the NDP’s election platform. To finally deliver on the promise, Dexter is announcing the formation of new collaborative emergency centres, which will match the level of services with the needs of residents in the community. Patients will have access to a team of health-care professionals including nurses, doctors and paramedics to provide the level of care that’s required. That will enable patients to get same or next day appointments.

“We want patients to be able to see their doctor more quickly and get better care from health care teams, so they can avoid going to an emergency room,” MacDonald says. “For those who do require emergency care, we want their journey through the emergency department to be as short, safe and comfortable as possible. That’s what Better Care Sooner is all about.”

Cape Breton District Health Authority CEO John Malcom welcomes the province’s effort to unclog crowded emergency rooms.

“In order to improve emergency care in Nova Scotia, we need to enhance things outside of the hospital – primary care, access to 911, access to 811 – so there’s a variety of options to respond to patients needs,” Malcom says.

Other planned actions under the new strategy include:
• Every regional hospital must develop a plan to shorten time frames for moving patients from ambulance into hospital and from triage to a hospital bed or departure.
• Health professionals will be supported in working to the full extent of their training, abilities and experience.
• Patients will get more information and be made more comfortable as they wait.
• More nurse practitioners are being hired to work in nursing homes and paramedics will provide more care for seniors in nursing homes and at home so they will not have to got to emergency.
• A public education campaign will be launched so people will have a greater understanding of 811 nurse line and 911 paramedics.
• Paramedics will get additional training and equipment to enhance their life-saving skills. This includes training to deliver a clot-busting drug for heart attack patients.
• Dedicating a plane and a new two-stretcher ambulance to save valuable driving time for paramedics and transport patients comfortably and cost-effectively.
• Health-care funding will be changed to reward better health results for patients.