Conservatives ignoring health care staffing crisis

The NDP is outraged that eight years after Stephen Harper promised to reduce wait times for family doctors, four million Canadians still can’t find a family physician and worse yet, more and more doctors can’t find work.

“There is no good reason why any Canadian should wait months to get care, while qualified doctors can’t find work,” said NDP Health critic Libby Davies (Vancouver – East). “New Democrats have long proposed a practical solution that will find work for doctors and reduce wait times for Canadians. Instead of acting, the Conservatives are turning their backs on health care.”

The NDP is proposing a Pan-Canadian Health Human Resources Strategy whereby federal, provincial and territorial governments coordinate training and working opportunities for doctors and other health professionals, reducing wait times in the process. The United Kingdom and Australia currently use a national approach to coordinate human resources in their health care systems.

“Once again the Conservatives have failed Canadians. In their 2012 budget they short-changed the provinces by $31-billion and Canadians are paying the price,” said NDP deputy Health critic Dany Morin (Chicoutimi – Le Fjord).