I’ve been asked my thoughts on today's announcement, and I have a few things to say.
Emergency care is so bad right now that there’s nowhere to go but up. Any improvements should make some kind of a difference. It can’t be a bad thing to have physician assistants and nurse practitioners working in the ER, and having doctors triage patients coming by ambulance. Having people check on patients and doing re-triage at the right intervals can only be helpful too. It likely would have saved Charlene.
I understand that you can’t wave a magic wand, and all of a sudden have 40 new nurses and 10 new doctors for our ER. So they’re working within the parameters they have.
With that said, if any of these new measures make access to emergency care more efficient and helps a person to avoid Charlene’s fate, then it's worth it.
I’ll be clear that my expectation, and the expectation of all Nova Scotians, is that this is just a small start.
I know it was indicated during the press conference that these ideas were a result of consultations with front line staff. We have heard from many doctors and nurses in the past week and they told us they’ve been ringing the alarm bells for a long time. So, I hope this collaboration continues. After all, the ones actually providing care ARE the experts.
Sparks light fires -- and I can only hope that small changes, like those announced today, will help to light the flame for the delivery of emergency and healthcare services in this province. Click here to read the full outline of what was announced today.