d’Entremont: NDP pre-election spree fails to address LTC crisis August 14, 2013 For immediate release HALIFAX, NS – Progressive Conservative Health and Wellness critic Chris d’Entremont says recent announcements by the Dexter NDP do nothing to help seniors and their families trying to access long-term care beds. According to statistics from the Department of Health and Wellness, the number of seniors waiting for long-term care is 2,334. That is more than a 50 per cent increase since the NDP took office. While supporting seniors to stay in their homes is important, d’Entremont says the NDP is ignoring thousands of seniors who have been assessed as needing a higher level of care by department staff.. “By ignoring the crisis in long-term care, the NDP is allowing the waitlist to grow and those seniors continue to suffer. This neglect is having on impact on families across Nova Scotia and is effecting emergency services,” said d’Entremont. “Hospitals are keeping patients waiting for long-term care placement in acute care beds, which backlogs emergency rooms and compromises emergency services in some communities.” Health and Wellness officials confirmed in January at a Public Accounts Committee meeting that it costs taxpayers up to three times more to keep a senior in hospital compared to the cost of care at a nursing home. “What the NDP is doing to seniors, their families and their caregivers is appalling,” said d’Entremont. “After working all their lives and contributing to our province, our seniors deserve better from the NDP.” In opposition, the NDP was vocal about the long-term care crisis and the increasing demand an aging population creates. In a January 2008 edition of the Yarmouth Vanguard, Darrell Dexter, as leader of the Opposition, said, “Long-term care continues to be that issue which is crippling so much of the system.” As of 2010/11, only 618 of the beds promised in the first phase of the Continuing Care Strategy were opened. The strategy, announced in May 2006, called for 832 beds by 2010 but the NDP did not build the remaining beds. The Liberals remain silent on the long-term care crisis in Nova Scotia. A PC government will find savings in health administration by reducing the number of District Health Authorities from ten to three and directing savings to front-line care, where it belongs. -30-
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 18:58:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015