This is an archive of news stories and research from the National Union of Public and General Employees. Please see our new site - https://nupge.ca - for the most current information. 


NAPE decries cuts as Newfoundland and Labrador ranks lowest in health care

"The national poll on attitudes of Canadians towards their health care system revealed that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians want improvements to our health care system, not cuts." - Carol Furlong, NAPE President.

St. John's (27 June 2012) - The results of a recent national poll in which Newfoundland and Labrador scored lowest in the country in terms of satisfaction with the overall health care system should send a message to government to stop the cuts in health care, says Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE/NUPGE) President Carol Furlong.

“The results of this poll couldn’t be more timely as it follows on the heels of announcements of cuts by Eastern Health,” says Furlong. “The national poll on attitudes of Canadians towards their health care system revealed that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians want improvements to our health care system, not cuts. This low level of confidence and satisfaction with our health care system revealed in the poll will be further exacerbated with the elimination of over 550 full time equivalent positions at Eastern Health. These cuts will do nothing to reassure the people of the province that our health care system is improving. If anything it sends the opposite message.”

“It seems that our system is under attack when emphasis should be on improving health care. The people of the province expect and deserve a health care system they can they have confidence in and depend on when needed,” states Furlong.

Furlong says the people are speaking out and government should pay attention to this poll, heed what the people are saying and stop the cuts to health care.

The poll on attitudes of Canadians towards their health care system was conducted by Forum Research Inc. The poll results are based on an interactive telephone survey of 3,932 randomly selected Canadian over the age of 18 across Canada. The poll was conducted on May 30 and 31 of this year. Results based on the total sample are considered accurate +/- 1.56%, 19 times out of 20. The poll showed a wide range of attitudes across the country but Newfoundland and Labrador had the dubious distinction of scoring the lowest in the country in terms of satisfaction with the overall health care system.

More information on the survey results are available online at: www.forumresearch.com/polls
 

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE