
Their responses will be posted in this section as we receive them.
We hope that this information will help you when you direct your concerns to your provincial representatives.
To become involved in CCSN’s political advocacy campaigns, please contact jmanthorne@survivornet.ca
Question:
A recent CCSN-commissioned Léger survey of 1,638 Canadians revealed that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a crisis in essential cancer care across the country. Cancer patients, their caregivers, and those awaiting confirmation of a cancer diagnosis faced, and still face, postponed and cancelled appointments, tests, and treatments, causing heightened fear and anxiety, even as pandemic restrictions are lifted.
Cancer patient, and Nova Scotia resident, Anamarija Wagner shared her story with CTV News Atlantic after she was told a scheduled medical appointment needed to be rebooked.
“So, when you go to your family physician, who’s also already overworked, and you tell them what the problem is, usually, they’ll say well, let’s wait and see,” said Wagner. “And, I’m sorry – a lot of us don’t have the wait-and-see time. A lot of us aren’t on very good timelines.”
The government of Nova Scotia has a critical role to play in making sure that essential cancer care is not disrupted by COVID-19, and a duty to provide the highest standard of care to those who continue to deal with COVID-19 and its symptoms.
Motivated by the nearly 7,000 Nova Scotians that are diagnosed with cancer each and every year, we are urging the government of Nova Scotia to get our healthcare system moving again. Safe and timely access to cancer care, including diagnostics, testing and treatment, must remain a top priority even as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
If elected, how will your government manage the backlog of screenings and surgeries, and ensure safe and timely access to cancer care so that patients across Nova Scotia can feel confident that their healthcare system will be there for them when they need it most.
Your response will be circulated to cancer patients, caregivers, and survivors in Nova Scotia and included on our website www.survivornet.ca. Links to your responses will also be posted on Facebook and Twitter.
Nova Scotia Green Party Response
Jenn Kang (Green Party Candidate for Hants West)
Ian Dawson (Green Party Candidate for Sackville-Cobequid)
- In the shorter term, increase the capacity to reduce the current backlog of initiatives such as screenings and surgeries, as well as ensuring access to family physicians
- In the longer term, reduce the demands on the health care system through the promotion of active living and good dietary choices in order to reduce the current capacity imbalance to address, for instance, the demand for safe and timely access to cancer care when it is needed most
- Structurally, ensure inter-department transitions are streamlined to prevent desperately needed care from falling between budgetary silos
Sara Adams (Green Party Candidate for Dartmouth East)
Nova Scotia New Democratic Party Response
Sean Foley (New Democratic Party Candidate for Colchester North)
Nova Scotia Atlantica Party Response
Tyler Ducharme (Atlantica Party Candidate for Digby Annapolis)
What is needed in the province is to open up the health care system to more privately operated medical facilities to help relieve the pressure on the public system. Many tests and other diagnostic processes do not need to be performed in hospitals and can be undertaken by professionals with a private practice. The government’s terrible response to Covid made our already poorly running healthcare system even worse. Longer wait times are the norm and not the exception.
Bureaucracy is grinding the very essence of health care, to assist people to regain their health, to a halt. This situation unfortunately is going to get worse over the next few years due to the incompetence and overreaction of the government when they put everyone at a greater health risk by shutting down the province and creating even larger backlogs. There needs to be an honest discussion about the direction of healthcare in this province and the country as a whole, until that happens we will be stuck with ever-increasing wait times, which lead to more despair and worse health outcomes for everyone. All of the mainstream parties make the same pie in the sky promises and none of them fulfill these promises, and we wonder why things are getting worse.
To be clear Canada already runs private medical along with the public option, but few parties/politicians have the courage to discuss this openly. Allowing private healthcare providers to ease the pressure on our current system is the best way out of this current mess.
Thank you,
Tyler Ducharme
Atlantica Party Candidate for Digby-Annapolis
Nova Scotia Liberal Party Response
The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network,
Thank you for your email and for the important work the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network does for cancer patients, survivors and their families. We know how important timely access to cancer care is and the Nova Scotia Liberal Party is dedicated to supporting patients, their families and the healthcare teams that provide care. Please see below for answers to your questions.
The Liberal government is committed to providing Nova Scotians with the cancer care and support they need closer to home, with investments totalling $18 million for ongoing supports in cancer care.
The Liberal Government has invested more than $4 billion in spending for new hospitals, emergency care centres, and community health centres that will completely transform the way healthcare is delivered in Nova Scotia. These represent the largest healthcare redevelopment projects in the province’s history, which when completed will provide patients across the province with state-of-the-art facilities and the quality of care they need and deserve when and where they need it.
The Halifax Infirmary expansion includes a Cancer Care centre with radiation therapy and ambulatory cancer clinics, an inpatient centre with new operating rooms, critical care beds, inpatient beds, diagnostic services and renal dialysis. It is expected to be completed by 2026. We also intend to invest nearly $1 million annually to enhance cancer care in Southwestern Nova Scotia. This will cover additional staff, medical supplies, and other supports for patients. Investments span across Nova Scotia, also including a brand new and improved cancer centre in the CBRM Redevelopment Project. The CBRM cancer centre will provide a more comfortable, supportive centre focused on patients and their families. Technology and additional supports under one roof will enhance the quality of care for patients, closer to home, and reduce the number of visits throughout treatment.
While there is still more work to do, these investments will make an impact on patients across Nova Scotia. We are committed to working through the backlog created by the Covid 19 pandemic to ensure timely access to cancer care.
Doctor recruitment and retention is a top priority for the Rankin government. In 2021, our government committed $12.2 million for physician training at Dalhousie Medical School, including an additional $1.2 million to continue funding 16 new seats for a total of $2.7 million this year. We commit to establishing a Primary Care Council and will invest $1 million annually to establish a new community-based integration program with dedicated funding to support local groups, who have the proven expertise, networks, and resources to welcome and support new doctors and their families.
We will also launch the Office of Physician Recruitment and Retention with an initial $5 million budget, effectively doubling Nova Scotia’s investment in physician recruitment. Additionally, we will invest an additional $6 million to support virtual care clinics for Nova Scotians currently on the waitlist by expanding the VirtualCare NS program to all four health zones in Nova Scotia.
The Liberal Party is committed to continuing to make strategic, targeted investments to increase access to health and cancer care and provide optimal patient care. We thank you for your continued dedication and the work you do to ensure the quality of life for patients, survivors, and their families.
Thank you,
Nova Scotia Liberal Party
Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party Response
Dear Ms. Manthorne,
The PC Party has put forward a fully costed, detailed plan to address this very issue. We are the only party to put forward thoughtful, realistic solutions for Nova Scotians to ensure people get the treatment they need when and where they need it.
We will do everything in our power to address the alarming backlog of cancer screenings and surgeries that are directly attributable to the neglect our healthcare system has witnessed over the last eight years.
The first critical step in addressing the backlog is opening our operating rooms past their standard hours of Monday through Friday, 9 AM-5 PM. With the money Nova Scotia spends on operating rooms and equipment, we should be maximizing their use to ensure Nova Scotians get the best care possible, in the shortest time possible. We have not witnessed any meaningful action to address our surgical shortfall over the last eight years.
Keeping our health system’s status quo is not good enough.
A PC government will also modernize our healthcare system by better leveraging digital technology to implement virtual care for Nova Scotians who want it. We will see quicker access to screening results, consultations, referrals, and follow-ups to patients in need of surgery, as well as more accessible, higher quality post-op care that doesn’t needlessly utilize hospital space, if a patient would rather have a virtual appointment.
Remember, it was the PC Party that championed the permanent implementation of virtual care even before the COVID-19 pandemic while the Liberal government mocked the idea in the legislature. They have now shifted, and are begrudgingly accepting its implementation.
The PC Party also previously called for people receiving cancer treatments to be prioritized in procedures and vaccinations.
A PC government will immediately implement the actionable solutions needed to reduce wait times for cancer screenings and surgeries. Our detailed commitments, released well in advance of an election, demonstrate the PC Party is the only party that can enact the required change in our healthcare system that Nova Scotians deserve. Our party is fully confident our Hope for Healthcare plan is the only plan that can successfully meet the needs of our citizens by attracting more family physicians and specialists while providing the hours of care needed to cut our surgery wait times to acceptable levels that do not leave Nova Scotians suffering for extended periods of time.
Sincerely,
Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party
Lisa Coates (Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party Candidate for Dartmouth North)
Hi Jackie,
Thank you for your email. A Tim Houston government is focused on fixing healthcare. We have incredible opportunities to manage the backlog of screenings and surgeries and ensure safe and timely access to cancer patients so that patients across Nova Scotia know that they can trust and rely upon the healthcare system.
Another aspect of access to care that has been amplified in recent years is the waitlist for surgeries. Some individuals are living in pain, awaiting surgery to improve their joints, while others worry about the potential exacerbation of conditions as a result of extended delays. Presently, the hours that Operating Rooms (ORs) are open are generally limited to business hours, with the exception of emergent surgeries.
The only way to address the backlog is to open our ORs to allow surgeons to do their work outside of normal business hours. Once we are making the most efficient use of our ORs, we will start to see significant improvements on the waitlist.
I hope this answers your questions, Jackie. Please feel free to reach out should you have more queries.
Best regards,
Lisa Coates
Progressive Conservative Party Candidate for Dartmouth North