Call for 'common sense ideas' from health-care workers gets big response

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston's call for "common sense ideas" on how to improve the province's health-care system received 2,202 submissions.

The provincial government announced the contest for health-care workers last month, seeking ideas that are "simple and easy to implement with little to no funding." The deadline was Nov. 22.

As part of the effort, everyone who sent an idea will be entered into a random electronic draw for 50 prizes of $1,000 each. Winners of the Dec. 4 draw will be contacted by email.

All of the ideas are being evaluated by a review panel that will narrow the submissions to a top 20.

"It is important to note that as part of the review process, duplicate or similar submissions will be combined into a single idea," Health Department spokesperson Tony Kiritsis said in an email.

"The top 20 ideas, to be voted on by Nova Scotians, will be announced on or around Dec. 20."

Full list of submissions will not be released

A government news release last month said the 10 ideas receiving the most votes will be considered priorities to be implemented "where feasible."

Kiritsis said a list of every submission would not be publicly released because some might not meet eligibility criteria, some might not reflect the campaign criteria and some might contain personal or identifying information.

When the contest was announced, opposition party leaders called it a "desperate" and "completely ridiculous" move by a government struggling to live up to a campaign pledge to fix the health-care system.

The premier stood by the idea, however, saying it was another way to listen to health-care workers. Houston said he got the idea during a recent trip to Singapore. Health-care officials in that country have used a similar approach with some success, he said.