MLA calls for the release of Fitch Report
Where’s the Fitch Report?
It’s the burning question for Argyle-Barrington MLA Colton LeBlanc going into the spring session of the legislature.
“I think there’s very valuable information in there how we can modernize and evolve the ambulance system to improve the service,” said LeBlanc in an interview.
The Fitch Report was commissioned by the government in 2018 to review the current Emergency Health Services model and provide recommendations.
Received by Health and Wellness Minister Randy Delorey in October 2019, the report has been kept under wraps. In December, LeBlanc said he “was shocked to learn that the minister plans on using the Fitch Report as a tactical advantage at the negotiation table."
Contract negotiations have been underway with ambulance service providers.
"Taxpayers funded this report and now the Liberals are going to use it to get the deal they want, rather than using it to deliver the health care Nova Scotians need," he had said.
CUPW, which represents about 50 medical dispatchers and call-takers (communications officers) working for Emergency Medical Care Inc. in Dartmouth, is also calling for the release of the report.
“CUPW has been bargaining with the employer since April 2019 when the collective agreement expired. But talks have been unproductive, and CUPW has filed for conciliation,” said CUPE national president Jan Simpson in a statement on Jan. 31.
“The employer seems to be waiting on the provincial government to release the Fitch report – a report commissioned by the government to review the current Emergency Health Services model and provide recommendations. We believe these recommendations may threaten the standard of care. Nova Scotians are seeing their ambulance wait times rise, along with critically low availability of ambulances.”
LeBlanc, who was a paramedic prior to last year's riding byelection, said the problem with the ambulance system has been ongoing for many years, with an increase in call volume to between 500 and 600 a day, including emergency, non-urgent and transfers.
“There’s a significant amount of transfers from one hospital to another,” he said.
“There’s a human resource challenge. All that is compounded by the ER closures," he added. "If you call 911 and you’re supposed to be going to Shelburne but it’s closed so now you’re going to Queens or Yarmouth so that takes a longer amount of time for paramedics to do that so that’s more of a strain on the system … it’s a continuum of chasing our tails.”
For LeBlanc, this will be his second session in the legislature and his first opportunity going through the budget process.
“I want to see a budget that is going to address the needs of my constituents and Nova Scotians and provide transparency and accountability to Nova Scotians and to the programs that are provided by the province," he said.