Nova Scotia Liberal Party Leader Zach Churchill. Image: submitted.

The leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party Zach Churchill took the time to address the current healthcare needs in the province and what needs be done to make improvements to the healthcare system.

“We need to put doctors in charge of the health authority, Premier Houston put in partisan allies to join the health authority, we need to take the politics out of the management of the healthcare system, it was better managed when doctors were in charge.”

Churchill is also urging the governing Tories to expand the scope of practice for pharmacists and other allied professionals so people without a family doctor won’t be required to go an emergency room for things like prescription renewal. Pressure needs to be removed from emergency rooms because they are overcrowded and understaffed.

While virtual healthcare has worked in some areas, Churchill acknowledged that it does have its limitations and it is not something we can rely on. Virtual healthcare can work as a supplement to having a family doctor to fill prescriptions, but you can’t have a physical examination over a computer screen or over the phone.

Churchill is stressing the importance of recruitment and retention of healthcare staff for the whole province as healthcare can’t be provided unless there are workers to deal with it. “I am hearing a lot of concern about emergency rooms, we just heard about a tragic death in Cape Breton and people are scared about how reliable their healthcare is going to be, there needs to be lot of attention put on our emergency rooms from a staffing perspective and to ensure we have doctors to keep them going.”

He plans to speak with doctors and healthcare workers on Cape Breton Island to gain a better understanding of issues faced by emergency rooms.