Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Alberta psychiatrists are blowing the whistle on the critical lack of mental health beds and professionals in Alberta.

According to Dr. Lloyd Maybaum, a Calgary psychiatrist threatened with dismissal when he expressed concerns, quote, the planning and announcement of the new fiveyear mental health action plan is another brutal example of the autocratic approach that Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health and Wellness routinely adopt. To the Premier: why were psychiatrists not consulted in this plan? Is this what you call engagement?

Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, everything that Alberta Health Services has done and everything that has been done in Alberta Health and Wellness is about building a system that can provide wraparound services with respect to mental health. These suggestions that certain professions have not been consulted are entirely incorrect. We have people who are part of our health care system both as private medical practitioners as well as in Alberta Health and Wellness who’ve been fully consulted with respect to implementation. As we move ahead, let’s remember that the way that government works right now is that we introduce plans, we consult ahead of time, and then we consult during further development. My understanding with respect to mental health plans at the moment that are being undertaken by the government is that we’re going to do exactly that.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Dr. Swann: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. That flies in the face of the evidence.

The new mental health plan makes no indication of the critical shortage of beds. What is this so-called plan based on?

Ms Redford: Well, Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe that a suggestion from the hon. member is proof or evidence of any particular fact. If he has further information, I’d certainly be happy to take that.

Mr. Speaker, what this mental health plan does is speak to the services that need to be available across this province for people that are dealing with those issues. Of course beds are a part of that, but one of the things that we know is that we’re going to have services, some of which are in treatment and some of which are out of treatment and in the community. I will tell you as we move ahead that this suggestion that there is a critical shortage of beds is nothing more than an allegation from the opposition.

Dr. Swann: Well, it’s clear that the Premier doesn’t make a connection between shortage of psychiatric beds and ER wait times. Very unfortunate that she doesn’t understand that. Will the Premier admit that such plans ignore both the evidence and the people primarily involved in mental health care and that this plan is a sham?

Ms Redford: Well, Mr. Speaker, there’s an awful lot of people that I will take advice from about the health care system and whether or not emergency wait times and mental health care beds should be connected. I’m fortunate, I’ll have to say, that one of them is not the member of the opposition because at the end of day there are many people who have opinions on the mental health care system and on the health care system. The job of government is to ensure that we have put in place practitioners and managers that understand the system intimately and understand the intricate connection between the day-to-day operations. All of these wild allegations that create fear in the health care system are not responsible.

Alberta Hansard, November 24, 2011

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