Thanks for nothing
Is anybody surprised by the lump of coal the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) delivered to Cape Breton this week? And just five days before Christmas, too. Nothing like springing bad news to the good folks on the other side of the causeway when they were just a little distracted.
Well, at least the NSHA had the decency to delivery it in person with the result that as of Jan. 2, children and teens in Cape Breton requiring inpatient mental health care will be sent to the IWK in Halifax. It also tried to shade the decision by explaining that the change is in line with the practice in other areas of the province.
Except for one thing: it’s not. The last time we looked at the Nova Scotia map, the distance from most parts of Cape Breton to the IWK in Halifax exceeds every other place in the province. That means an increased loss of school time, increased expenses associated with travelling and staying in hotels, and possible costs finding child care for other siblings.
Of course, there was a very real chance this policy change would have taken place by Dec. 1 until the Cape Breton Post broke the news in November. As a result the NSHA backpedaled somewhat and said it was simply one option being considered.
It also prompted local MLA Alfie MacLeod to suggest bringing in psychiatrists (maybe one of the 120-plus presently located in the Halifax area) from elsewhere rather than having Cape Breton youth requiring emergency and inpatient help travel for treatment.
But whatever the NSHA pursued didn’t amount to anything and, really, did we expect that it would?
After all, little was done when there were 14 psychiatrists in Cape Breton in 2014, two less the full complement. Same thing when the number dropped to 13, 12, 11, 10, nine or eight.
And now, when the number stands at seven (six adult psychiatrists and one part-time child and adolescent psychiatrist), the NSHA, bereft of any other ideas, has finally taken action.
It had no other alternative, really. Not with average wait times of 163 days for adolescent and child outpatient or community-based mental health services at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. By contrast, the shortest wait time in Nova Scotia for the service is in Truro at 44 days.
And, so, Cape Breton families will soon be hitting the road in the dead of winter, in hopes that their child will receive the help that is so desperately needed closer to home.
It’s a make-shift solution for a worsening problem and it’s just one more reason why Cape Bretoners feel a two-tier health-care system is slowly becoming a reality in this province.