The Herald, voice of the people, Nov 20, 2013
Central planning
Reducing the number of health authorities to one would allow system-wide planning of health care, education and research. A province wide governance structure must be created, a Nova Scotia Health Board (NSHB), with authority to carry out the health policies set by government.
The Department of Health and Wellness cannot be a de facto board. Autonomy for defined activities of individual health-care facilities would be from local administrations reporting to the NSHB. Funding of health facilities should be partially activity-based.
The NSHB mandate should include:
1. Accountability via public reporting of wait times, monthly financial updates, and outcome measures of all diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
2. Committees of the NSHB, which would have community members, would establish province wide guidelines for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (as is happening in cardiac, cancer, and emergency care), and define, measure and report on outcomes.
3. System-wide capital planning would collaborate with all post-secondary institutions involved in the health system.
4. Case costing and internal auditing are needed to assess efficiency of all programs.
Ed Kinley, MD, Halifax
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Side note 1: For five years I served on the Board of Directors of Capital Health. Dr. Ed Kinley was one of my colleagues on the Board. Ed is a recent inductee to the Order of Nova Scotia.
Unfortunately Ed died in 2014.