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After hinting at it a week ago, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has unveiled his plan to address health care, which focuses on improving access.
But the opposition NDP say the plan is a “recycle” of a health-care strategy from 14 years ago.
Moe said the “Patients First Health Care Plan” will ensure people get the “right care in the right place at the right time.”
“We have listened to people across the province, listened to patients, listened to families and listened to providers,” Moe said. “What we’ve heard is really reflected in the two commitments in the 2024 speech from the throne following the election: access to primary health-care providers for everyone in Saskatchewan was a commitment that we made and access to timely surgeries and diagnostics, also a commitment that we made.”
The premier touted the plan as having more than 50 actions being taken, including expanding access to virtual care, increasing the number of urgent care centres and access to them and continuing to recruit and train more doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners.
Moe said with the plan, they’re also setting new targets that include a three-month wait time for surgeries by 2028, have 90 per cent of patients waiting for a diagnostic to receive it within 60 days or less and complete 450,000 surgeries over the course of four years.
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The province said Monday it would streamline health-care recruitment, expand its recruitment incentives and increase training, including by adding more seats for medical training and residencies.
According to the plan, this also includes increasing nurse practitioner positions in emergency rooms and urgent care centres to reduce wait times.
Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill touted nurse practitioners as a big part of their plan, noting there would be 26 new seats split between the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina. He said this would increase training capacity for nurse practitioners by 45 per cent.
“As part of this plan, we are taking an all-in approach on the role of nurse practitioners in this province as a central part of improving that access to primary care,” Cockrill said Monday.
The government also said it will be investing $78,000 over two years for registered nurses to pursue training as a nurse practitioner with a return for service contract.
The minister told a news conference the plan also includes virtual care supports for unattached patients to start, providing them with basic primary care and the ability to renew prescriptions from home.
“We’ve heard you and standing still is no longer an option,” Cockrill said.
Health care has been an issue for both the government and the opposition in the legislature.
The government has stressed it’s working to tackle issues such as overcrowding and patient care, even after facing calls by health-care workers and the opposition for urgent improvements.
Plan a ‘recycle’ from the Brad Wall government: NDP
NDP MLA Keith Jorgensen criticized Moe during a news conference Monday, saying despite being premier since 2018, it was concerning that “just now, he wants to start a conversation with Saskatchewan people about the future of health care.”
“People, both patients and also front-line health-care workers, have been begging, begging for a seat at the table wanting to talk about their concerns about the crisis in health care and now, after eight or nine years, he wants to start a conversation,” Jorgensen said.
He also criticized the government over what he called routine closures of the urgent care centre in Regina.
Jorgensen told reporters the government’s plan resembled one from 14 years ago from former premier Brad Wall, which he said was called the “Patient First Transformative Act.”
“It is alarming that the government’s response, rather than coming up with new solutions to the problem, is to recycle something they tried 14 years ago and did not work,” he said.
Asked about the government’s focus on nurse practitioners, Jorgensen said the NDP have heard people “rave” about interactions but said it’s about the “execution.”
“It’s the execution, we still have to find those people, we need them in the right place and you still need them interacting with physicians,” Jorgensen said.
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