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News
Release |
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Jones concerned over government's inaction on ambulance
services April 11, 2006
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Yvonne Jones, Opposition Critic for Health and Community Services and MHA
for the District of Cartwright-L’Anse Au Clair, is concerned that government
has not assigned ambulatory care service in the St. John’s area as a
priority and, as such, the service remains well below the Canadian standard. Paramedics in the Eastern Health Authority region have engaged in demonstrations during the past few days to highlight their concerns to government. They are seeking additional funding and clarification to deal with human resources shortages, as well as the low number of ambulance units that currently service the area. According to statistics, one ambulance services 53,000 people in St. John’s; whereas, in the three cities of Halifax, Sudbury and Saint John, New Brunswick, the average is one ambulance per 22,000 people. "This is not acceptable by any standard and government has failed to be proactive on this issue," Jones said. "These concerns have been present for some time before this public demonstration. Government had an opportunity in the budget, and with its surplus, to tackle this issue before it reached this critical stage." Jones pointed out that the $250,000 allocated in the budget for dispatch services has to be allocated between four boards, with Eastern Health receiving only a portion of this limited funding. Furthermore, this board is expected to take on all air ambulance services across the province on a permanent basis, which will intensify their funding shortfall. "The minister says there is $60 Million for increased utilization costs, but again, this is divided between four authorities. Boards are not yet aware of their share of the pie, nor what portion will be designated or discretionary funding. How can they be expected to move forward and with any clarity? "This matter is not only about the stressful workloads of paramedics, but about compromised patient safety. For a government that claims to be making the right choices and deems health care a priority, this issue either got overlooked or is not viewed as important. Either way, government’s inaction in this area has ensured that another part of our health care system in this province is dragging behind the rest of Canada."
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