Photo by Vince Fedoroff
REFORMS VOWED – Jan Stick, the NDP’s incumbent/candidate in Riverdale South, outlines the party’s commitments to improve access to mental health services on Tuesday.
NDP would improve mental health services access
An NDP government would commit to slashing wait times for mental health services in half within two years of winning office.
An NDP government would commit to slashing wait times for mental health services in half within two years of winning office.
“I’ve spent the last five years listening to the stories of Yukoners who are struggling to find the supports they need in mental health,” Jan Stick, the NDP’s incumbent/candidate in Riverdale South for the Nov. 7 election, said Tuesday.
“You cannot reasonably expect people in crisis to wait months for services or drive hundreds of kilometres for mental health supports.”
The Yukon NDP would invest in recruiting mental health professionals like psychiatric nurses, social workers, and counsellors, including ones who would be accessible to people living in the communities. Up to $2.5 million would be earmarked to support recruitment and staffing, the party indicated.
“We can’t wait for another crisis in Yukon to deal with the significant gap in mental health services,” said Stick.
“An NDP government will take immediate steps by making the investments necessary to support the well-being of Yukoners.”
According to the NDP’s research, the wait time for alcohol and drug services branch counselling is nine to 12 months.
The wait time for a comprehensive mental health assessment is up to eight months.
“The most urgent mental health patients, those who are suicidal with minimal or no supports, may wait up to 48 hours to be seen in a crisis,” the party said in a statement.
“Patients with a high risk of self-harm may wait up to two weeks to be seen.”
The Chief of Medical Staff’s annual report for 2014/15 called psychiatry and care of the mentally ill patient “probably the largest gap in service in Yukon.”
The mental health services branch has two rural offices staffed by mental health nurses in Dawson City and Haines Junction who must provide support to all of the communities.
The Yukon NDP would invest $2.5 million to begin addressing the crisis, by hiring more support workers, the party said.
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Comments (6)
Up 12 Down 7
Icefog on Oct 27, 2016 at 2:16 pm
@north60 Interesting, I think Jan and Liz will be the only ones to get elected from the NDP lol. Jeanne Lassen looks poised to take out Kate White. She is certainly more qualified in every way.
Up 12 Down 8
north_of_60 on Oct 27, 2016 at 12:13 pm
If the NDP had more smart candidates like Stick then they would be qualified to form a government.
Stick and White will likely get re-elected, but none of the others.
Up 17 Down 5
O K lets get at the truth of the situation on Oct 26, 2016 at 5:40 pm
First thing there is a major shortage of mental health care professionals in Canada.
If the NDP think they can go and just employee mental care doctors, this shows they have no knowledge of the subject and the situation in Canada in this field.
We had doctor in the Yukon from Antigonish, who like all other doctors in this field took 14 years to practice mental health medicine.
This doctor had to cover office duty, hospital, seniors and go on the highway.
Yukon needs at least four full time doctors in this field.
Yukon Government has worked at this. If you can't get them to come here, why do the NDP think they can do different?
This is such bad statement by any party when they don't understand the facts of the situation.
Let's work with our kids to get them trained in this field.
Up 9 Down 15
Mark Sanders on Oct 26, 2016 at 5:16 pm
This woman is one smart cookie and she works very hard. If she says she will do something expect it to happen without much fanfare; this by the way is rare for any politician.
A promise that will be fullfiled which will make many people's lives better!
Up 34 Down 9
Thomas Brewer on Oct 26, 2016 at 3:19 pm
Under an NDP government, more people would require mental health services!
Up 24 Down 5
Think different on Oct 26, 2016 at 2:56 pm
Our mental health programs are severely understaffed and have been for years.
So many other departments and branches/units, including some of those inside Dept of Health and Social Services have much larger budgets and many more staff than they truly require for the amount of work that's asked of them.
Yukon government should be investing in the real world need for mental health of its citizens, including adults as well as children and their families. I'm not saying vote for NDP, but rather let's all consider what should be our true priorities as voters.