Premier a hypocrite on patient safety: Sherman
Hospital workers owed an apology
Premier Alison Redford’s reaction to the AUPE hospital support workers’ wildcat strike reveals “a stupendous level of hypocrisy,” says Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman.
Premier Redford said Thursday she was disappointed that the workers would compromise patient safety by walking out over contract differences.
“The entire health care system compromises patient safety every single day,” says Sherman. “It doesn’t need a walkout to affect patients negatively.”
Sherman said the province has among the longest waiting lists for surgery, the longest emergency room wait times and the most backed-up ambulance system.
“And we’re the richest province,” Sherman says. “The system has ground to a halt. Ambulances are waiting for hours with sick people that are only metres from care. That spells mismanagement to me.”
Sherman said the single easiest and most effective way to fix the system is something Redford and the PC government refuse to do, and that’s unplugging the system by radically increasing spending on home care for seniors.
“Hundreds of seniors are needlessly warehoused in acute care hospital beds. If they had home care support services, they’d be at home with their spouses and costing the system a whole lot less money.
Get seniors out of acute care beds, and emergency rooms can process patients far more quickly because there are beds to send people to. Make the emergency rooms more efficient and you won’t have an ambulance backup problem either,” Sherman says.
“For the Premier to accuse the hardest-working and lowest-paid health care workers of not caring about patient safety is unbelievably hypocritical. She owes those women and men a huge apology – not to mention a decent wage increase,” Sherman says.
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