NSNDP

September 16th, 2020

Liberal government must release long-term care report

HALIFAX - The review of long-term care announced in the wake of the tragedy at Northwood was due yesterday, September 15. The NDP is calling for the report to be made public immediately.

“Residents of long-term care and their families have made tremendous sacrifices over the last several months -- they deserve answers on what kind of action the Liberal government is prepared to take to improve their situations,” said NDP Leader Gary Burrill. “The government must immediately release the review of long-term care and announce a plan of action to make sure there is a room of their own for every nursing home resident in Nova Scotia.”

The NDP Caucus has been pushing for a full public inquiry into long-term care and COVID-19 in our province. There also needs to be an increase in staffing to care for residents and ensure more visits can take place.

“It is abundantly clear that we need more staff in long-term care facilities, and we need them now,” said NDP Health spokesperson Susan Leblanc. “We have seen increasing cases of COVID-19 over the last few weeks in Canada. It is very likely that we will see a second wave of the virus in Nova Scotia as well. We need to know what the Liberal government is doing now for long-term care residents ahead of a second wave.”

The NDP introduced the Care and Dignity Act in 2018, which would create legislated minimum care standards for all residents of long-term care facilities. To meet minimum care standards more staff would have to be hired in long-term care facilities.

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