Doctors Nova Scotia says health care based on aging doctors treating aging patients in an aging system can't continue.
Director of Finance and Partnerships Kevin Chapman says a laundry list of issues are causing huge backlogs in patient care.
Chapman has heard from emergency room doctors across the province who are particularly concerned with the issue of bed blocking.
"Twenty percent of the beds in a hospital might be filled with people who don't need to be in the hospital anymore and are ready to be discharged but really don't have anywhere to go."
Chapman says Doctors Nova Scotia would like government to update a healthcare system that was designed fifty years ago and no longer serves the population well.
"From our perspective it's sort of, across the continuum. We simply just need to better support seniors. That runs the gamut from looking at making sure we have enough long-term care beds to looking to make sure that we have supports for home care."
Chapman says his organization supports the federal government's call for a national pharmacare program.
But they would also like changes to the formula for the Canada Health Transfer.
Chapman says funding to provinces should be based on needs of the population, not the number of people in the province.
Time to send elected officials a message: we need better #seniors care in Canada! @MinofSeniors
As federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for seniors meet today in Charlottetown – we are calling for action to improve seniors care. https://t.co/WgRMsnUB0g pic.twitter.com/JVdJgPcCQv
— CanadianMedicalAssoc (@CMA_Docs) May 22, 2019
Reported by: Ed Halverson
Twitter: @edwardhalverson
E-mail: halverson.ed@radioabl.ca
