BC Liberals: No metrics, no timelines in NDP health care strategy

THE BC Liberals on Thursday raised concerns about the NDP’s newly released health human resources strategy, which they said was long overdue and failed to provide much of the short-term relief needed to address the worsening health care crisis.

Shirley Bond, BC Liberal Critic for Health, said: “B.C. is in the middle of a deadly health care crisis and real action is long overdue. The Health Minister originally promised to introduce a health human resources strategy by last fall. What he has delivered today is a year late and falls well short of what’s needed to solve B.C.’s worsening health care crisis.

“I am glad to see some common-sense changes in this plan, like expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists and removing barriers for foreign-trained health care workers. But these are actions the BC Liberals and others have been suggesting for months now. It’s frustrating to see the NDP refuse to take our suggestions and then suddenly celebrate these ideas that should have been implemented months ago.”

The BC Liberals said that over the past few years, B.C. has faced a worsening health care crisis, with regular hospital closures, understaffed UPCCs, rising wait times, people dying waiting for ambulances, and nearly one million British Columbians without access to a family doctor.

The BC Liberals pointed out that they first put forward a 30-day action plan to address the crisis in primary care this past July, in addition to suggesting further solutions to the health care crisis a few weeks later.

Bond said: “Our health care system has needed a human resources strategy for years, and it’s disappointing to see the NDP only put forward a plan now, two years into their second term in government — it’s too little, too late.

“This document is a collection of value statements and actions to be developed, not a plan with clear metrics and timelines ready to tackle the crisis that has already overwhelmed our system. While I’m encouraged to see some level of action, far more needs to be done to relieve the pressure on our health care workers and ensure that all British Columbians have access to the care they need and deserve.”