The province’s move to hire more nurse practitioners to alleviate a critical shortage of nursing home doctors amounts to patchwork and doesn’t address a long-term care system in crisis, say opposition members.
Health Minister Randy Delorey told reporters in Halifax on Wednesday that the Nova Scotia Health Authority is attempting to find more nurse practitioners and job advertisements for the positions have been posted. He said this is a temporary solution as the province attempts to recruit more doctors. The news comes a day after media reported on three nursing homes having to send residents home or being unable to take on new residents due to a lack of family doctors.
Two of those nursing homes in Truro and Debert are operated by Shannex, one of the province’s largest nursing home operators. Residents there are currently being sent to hospital if they require medical attention, and will not be readmitted afterward to the facilities if they don't have a family doctor.
The Chronicle Herald attempted to find out how many nurse practitioners the province is attempting to hire but the NSHA was unable to provide those numbers by end of day.
Delorey said that Shannex and the other long-term care facility Ocean View Continuing Care Centre were consulted with the proposed plan on Tuesday.
In an email statement, Shannex spokeswoman Gillian Costello said the option is a possible solution and that the company is looking forward to working with the NSHA.
“The use of nurse practitioners is a solution we look forward to exploring with our partners at the Nova Scotia Health Authority and Department of Health and Wellness along with any other ideas that address the shortage of physician coverage in long-term care settings,” said Costello.
As a result of two family doctors scaling back their practice at Ocean View Continuing Care Centre in Eastern Passage, the facility stopped accepting new residents at the end of August and four beds are now empty due to the lack of doctors.
The facility's president and CEO Dion Mouland could not be reached for comment. But Progressive Conservative seniors' care and long-term care critic Barbara Adams said the nurse practitioners likely won’t be hired quickly enough to fill the urgent need. The lack of doctors is a symptom of a much broader issue that has come as a result of years underfunding for long-term care, she said.
“The government has let it get to a crisis point and now they’re reacting," said Adams.
“There are 700 people in acute care hospital beds waiting for long-term care in this province; that’s 20 per cent of acute care beds,” said Adams. “We also have 1,200 people waiting from home for residential care or long-term care.”
Delorey announced on Wednesday that 30 beds at Melville Gardens, a long-term care home in Halifax, would be converted into nursing home beds. The move includes $1.3 million in funding for new tubs, assisted bathing, and ceiling and chairlifts. The work is expected to be completed between four to six weeks.
But Adams said the announcement was an obvious move by the province to minimize the news of the doctor shortage facing long-term care residents. She also said the move doesn’t address the shortage of beds because no new ones were added.
NDP Leader Gary Burrill echoed Adams' sentiments and said Wednesday’s announcement is small potatoes in the context of a crisis. He also said the lack of family doctors is more evidence of this.
“It is bad enough that the McNeil Liberals haven’t opened a single new nursing home bed since coming to power, and that our hospitals are jammed with people waiting for long-term care," said Burrill. "It is bad enough that experts agree that staffing levels for those who are in long-term care aren’t adequate to deliver the care required.”
"This is what a health care crisis looks like, and it is a direct result of the Liberal government’s complacency towards the urgent needs in both primary and long-term care.”
