The Island’s Conservative government shut down a bill on Thursday that would have eased the burden on PEI’s strained healthcare workers. Currently an employer can force a worker to get a sick note from a doctor if they miss 3 days of work. This is a violation of that worker’s privacy, and creates an unnecessary burden on our public healthcare system. A bill was put forward to remove this requirement for doctors to provide sick notes to employers when their employees are off work sick 3 days – and the Conservatives struck the bill down.
Issues regarding a worker’s attendance should be between that worker and their employer. An employer has no right to go poking into an employee’s health issues. If employers don’t believe their workers, this is a performance issue and should be dealt with at the expense of that employer and not forced upon the public healthcare system. Island doctors and healthcare workers are under enough strain already, with most doctors having a completely full roster of patients with real health needs that need to be addressed. They don’t have the time to be assisting employers with their HR issues at the public’s expense.
That this bill, which would have freed up time to Island doctors, was struck down by the Conservative party is all the more upsetting given the fact that it is this party that has failed to provide a family doctor to tens of thousands of Islanders today. It is the provincial government’s responsibility to bring about our healthcare system and make sure that every Islander has a family doctor. At this moment nearly 35,000 Islanders are currently without a family doctor. This is a direct result of the Conservative neglect of our Island healthcare system.
This is even more disappointing after the recent shameful display by the Conservative health minister, publicly mocking the Prime Minister of Canada. The PEI NDP know that a strong working relationship with the federal government is crucial for the Island healthcare system and the health of Islanders. Perhaps if the Conservative health care minister spent a bit more time hiring doctors and a bit less time being needlessly confrontational with the federal government, our healthcare system wouldn’t be in the sorry state it is today.
It is the goal of the New Democratic Party of Prince of Edward Island to make sure that every Islander has a family doctor, and that the rights and privacy of every worker on Prince of Edward Island are respected. It was the NDP that gave this nation universal healthcare, and it is only the NDP that are capable of making sure that our Island healthcare system reaches the level of service required by Islanders.