File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Are new nurse-to-patient ratios another NDP pipe dream?

Apr 9, 2023 | 6:10 AM

THIS WEEK, THE NDP GOVERNMENT announced a new deal for the more than 50,000 nurses in the province. Along with the usual concessions, this deal had some really nice sounding bonuses — particularly in the form of care ratios between patients and nurses.

With so many caregivers burning out and transitioning to more casual work or out of health care altogether, it seems like a breath of fresh air. But is it?

We have no idea how the $750 million committed to the program will be spent, how the government will find the staff it needs to fill the void, how they plan to ensure smaller communities get the same balance as larger centres, and how the.system deals with the times when we can’t meet the quotas — which is bound to happen.

Do we just not admit people to hospital because we had a serious incident on the highway and the number of patients coming in will put us over the limit? Will nurses actually refuse to look after those patients?

There are only certain types of care that will fall under the new quotas and lines of clarity still are not clear. To be fair, many details would still have to be worked out. But like so many of the NDP announcements the past few years, this one seems like another one of those plans full of BS and very few details.

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Sometimes I think the government is simply trying to throw out so much fluff that the media just won’t be able to keep track of all the promises and call out the government on its shortcomings.

When the election rolls around, Premier Eby will build his campaign on how much the government has committed financially to improve the quality of life in our province. Let’s hope the media and the Opposition will be there to hold the government accountable for what they’ve actually done and not what they’ve committed to do. That could be a very big difference.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.