Recruitment, Patient Care Get Boost Under New Agreement
Doctors Nova Scotia has accepted a deal from the province that will help improve patient access to intensive care unit (ICU) services and help boost physician recruitment.
"We highly value physicians covering ICUs. Like all our doctors, they are skilled and in-demand professionals who provide an exceptional level of service to Nova Scotians," said Health Minister Chris d'Entremont. "Our offer is nationally competitive. Most importantly, our offer isn't just about money -- it's about solutions that help patients.
"We are extremely pleased that it has been accepted."
Under the options in the new agreement, physicians covering ICUs in Nova Scotia can choose to earn about another $10,000 per year, per physician, or they can use a new pool of funding to recruit more physicians to help cover the ICU and reduce the workload. Physicians servicing ICUs also benefit from a new income guarantee of up to $1,850 per day for hospital-based ICU services. By providing an income guarantee, the province has ensured that there are greater incentives to working in an ICU, particularly in rural areas.
In total, the province expects to spend about $562-million this year in doctor compensation.
The agreement reached today, Oct. 5, is designed to ensure that physicians covering ICUs continue to be competitively compensated, as well as to bolster recruitment efforts and ensure patients throughout Nova Scotia receive the care they need, closer to home. This is one more way the province is creating conditions that attract, and retain, health-care providers.
Physicians in two districts had earlier indicated that they would withdraw ICU coverage on Monday, Oct. 8, if a resolution was not reached. Physicians at Amherst Regional Hospital and the Bridgewater Regional Hospital have advised the province that they will not withdraw services.
The agreement accepted by Doctors Nova Scotia advances a number of items that are negotiated as part of the Provincial Master Agreement. The master agreement expires in March 2008, and discussions between the province and Doctors Nova Scotia have begun.