Solutions Outlined to Ease Strain at Capital Health

Patients and health care workers will soon see more long-term care beds, faster home support for discharged emergency room (ER) patients and expansion of the QEII emergency room.

These are some of the solutions outlined to nurses today, Jan. 15, by Health Minister Angus MacIsaac and Don Ford, president and CEO of Capital Health, to relieve emergency room pressures in the district.

"I have never been so impressed by a group seeking my help as I was by the nurses who visited me last Thursday," said Mr. MacIsaac. "Their genuine concern for the patients they are asked to serve under extreme conditions was important for me to hear. In turn, I learned from my discussions with the administration at Capital Health that many of the solutions were in hand, in development by the internal team that had been working on this since October. Together with some longer term solutions, we're moving it all into high gear."

"These issues are not new. Certainly the number of very sick people that were treated in our emergency rooms over the holiday period focused everyone's attention on a serious and longstanding problem," said Mr. Ford. "The passion of our staff in representing their patients will be a powerful asset as we work together to implement the solutions announced in today's plan.

"We all know the problems in emergency rooms are the result of pressures throughout the health system. The solutions today involve hospitals and long-term care facilities and the Department of Health. But over the long term, it is so important that we continue to invest time and energy in solutions that prevent disease and promote health," he said.

"Our health statistics are among the worst in the country and that, combined with our aging population, places more pressure on our hospitals than is viable or sustainable over the long term. The public and community health parts of our system now, more than ever, need our support so that the next generation of Nova Scotians will enjoy, in all respects, a healthier province. With the collaboration we experienced with the Department of Health over the past week, we can go forward with confidence," said Mr. Ford.

The solutions announced today range from changes in Capital Health's policy and processes that can be implemented immediately as well as system-wide measures. For instance, the Department of Health has committed to act on the recommendations for orthopedic surgery that will come out of its Wait Time Report, expected to be presented to the minister soon.

The minister and Mr. Ford said the nurses had many practical suggestions from their direct experience with the ER bottlenecks. Many of the suggestions can be implemented quickly and within existing budgets.

For example, Capital Health has committed to ensuring that physician consultations take place by specialists within an hour and a half of a patient being seen by the emergency room physician.

The district will also move forward with a request for proposals to design an expanded emergency room at the QEII. The ER was originally built to accommodate 35,000 visits per year. This year more than 70,000 patients are expected.

When the Robie Street parking garage at the Halifax Infirmary was constructed last year, a shelled-in space was also built to enable future expansion. The design costs are contained in the current business plan. The time between design of the expansion and opening is about 16 to 18 months.

The minister agreed to move forward to this fiscal year a commitment for more long-term care beds in the district. That commitment had been part of next year's Health budget.

"We are keenly aware that long-term care beds are part of the solution," said Mr. MacIsaac. "I'm happy that government has agreed that this district needs to be made an immediate priority for these beds in the same way we have made additional long-term care beds a priority for the Annapolis Valley district."

The minister emphasized that the problems that have come to a head in the QEII emergency department are ones that are being addressed through the system-wide long-term planning contained in Nova Scotia's plan for health care, Your Health Matters.

He also noted that, last year, Nova Scotia became the first province in Canada to guarantee new funding to hospitals over the coming years.