NDP to introduce Mental Health Bill of Rights

HALIFAX - The NDP Caucus will introduce a Mental Health Bill of Rights in the legislature today. This legislation would enshrine the rights of a person experiencing mental distress and require the provincial government to increase funding for mental health services.

“Six years ago, the NDP released our province’s first Mental Health Strategy. Yet, under the McNeil Liberals, improvements and investments in our mental health system have been curtailed,” said NDP Leader Gary Burrill. “Mental health services need to be provided in the same fashion as physical health care services. We wouldn’t say it is acceptable for a patient with a broken arm to go without treatment; why does this government think it’s okay for a patient with severe depression or schizophrenia to wait and wait for care?”

Sarah Parker has been dealing with the lack of public mental health services for 15 years. In that time, she has been through multiple assessments and hospitalizations.

“People like me, who do not have the money or the insurance to afford private services, should not have to settle for second-rate care,” said Parker. “I have to wonder when the government will consider us important enough to provide the resources we need to be healthy and productive members of society.”

The World Health Organization recommends governments spend ten per cent of their health care budgets on mental health care services. Currently, Nova Scotia spends only four per cent of the healthcare budget on mental health. The NDP’s legislation would require the province to meet the ten per cent guideline by 2025.