Open Letter to Minister Michelle Thompson

March 5th, 2023

Dear Minister Thompson;

I am Kendall Worth, an advocate and blogger for people living in poverty. I specialize in finding solutions for individuals living in poverty. But I also advocate to change systems -- to raise the Income Assistance rates, for the creation of a Guaranteed Basic Income, and for improvements to the mental health system. I now have nearly twenty years of experience at this. I previously wrote for, the now defunct, Nova Scotia Advocate, and other publications before that...

I would like to start this correspondence by asking you to look at this recent post, and take note of the fact that I said “I would like to stop writing about this topic and why.” The “topic” is the need for assistance and accompaniment following surgery, especially day surgery. It frustrates me that medical professionals can say you can only have the surgery if you have someone to be with you at home for 24 hours – but have no solutions for people without friends or families to help them – which is too many people on income assistance.

There are many unresolved issues, and there are many articles in the Advocate and blog posts about them. A big one, is that there have been no major increases in the Income Assistance rates to help Income Assistance recipients in Nova Scotia live economically stable lives, esp with runaway inflation. THere are, however, other problems, some of which fall under the Dept of Health and Wellness. My principal reason for writing to you today is because, although the income assistance rates and other policy issues land squarely on the desk of the Minister of Community Services, there is a need for the Dept. of Health and Wellness to assist in other areas.

There is a huge amount that your department can do to improve the mental health system, and changes to the health care system in general. However, my focus today is on the issue of people not having anyone to help them when they are discharged from hospital, and so are in danger of having their surgery cancelled. I want to suggest that we need a block of beds to be available in the hospital when no one can accompany people home following surgery, particularly day surgery. Many are told they need someone (not a taxi, or transit) to pick them up and then stay with them at home for 24 hours. Many of the people I advocate for are in situations where they cannot make these arrangements. There is no one can they can ask to take them home and stay with them.

Surgeons and other medical professionals insist that being under the affects of anaesthesia makes it unsafe for someone to go home on their own following same-day surgery.  They say it is unsafe for them to be alone for the 24 hours while the anaesthesia is still wearing off. These same income assistance recipients, revealing they have no one to stay with them, are told there is no other option.

This gap needs to be addressed and some change made so that there is an option for those who cannot make these “someone to help at home” arrangements. By way of this letter, I want to introduce to you to an idea. Why not have a small section of beds with a monitor or watcher (Not a nurse or medical pro) for those who can make no other arrangement for the first 24 hours?

I keep hearing stories time and again, where members, of the community of people I advocate for, are putting off surgeries they need because of they have no one that can accompany them following surgery.

This needs to be addressed!

 

Yours Truly 

 

Kendall Worth