NLMA says access-to-information request shows N.L. has no plan to fix doctor shortage
NLMA president Dr. Susan MacDonald says group was taken by surprise by health minister's recent comments
The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association says the provincial government — particularly Health Minister John Haggie — has no plan to address the province's ongoing problems with doctor shortages.
In a media release issued Friday, the NLMA said it filed an access-to-information request for a copy of the plan that the group says Haggie referenced in a recent interview with NTV News.
"We have a plan. We've got a short-, medium- and long-term approach, but there is no secret sauce for this just at the moment," Haggie said in the interview.
The association, which represents the province's physicians, says the mention of a plan even existing was a surprise to the organization, so it tried to retrieve documentation through an access-to-information request.
But the response, issued Sept. 21, contained no plans or records other than a link to a 2015 document before Haggie was appointed minister, according to the NLMA, adding the minister's assertion in the media was therefore "inaccurate and misleading."
"Furthermore, none of the activities mentioned in the department's response were focused on addressing the physician shortage," reads the media release.
NLMA president Dr. Susan MacDonald told CBC News on Monday that there are some general statements about what the Department of Health wants to see, but no health resources plan, or recruitment and retention strategies.
"I have a tendency to always see the best in people so I'm going to think that perhaps he's mistaken. Perhaps there is something that just wasn't included when they sent the response to the applicant," she said.
"Maybe they're working on it and it's just something they feel they can't share. I don't know."
A call for planning
More than 98,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are currently without a family doctor, according to the group, which has asked the provincial government to address the shortage by implementing a recruitment and retention strategy.
MacDonald said it's in Haggie's best interests — and the association's — to ensure the health-care system works.
"So I'll give him lots of chances until I'm absolutely sure that I can't trust him. Right now I'm proceeding with … that he means well, that he really wants to fix things as much as we do and we just have different ideas, perhaps, on how to go about doing that," she said.
CBC News requested an interview with Haggie on Monday. A spokesperson with the Department of Health said the health minister was unavailable.
With files from On The Go