HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's NDP says it plans to improve access to emergency care by spending $2.3 million dollars on three measures including the creation of a position of emergency care adviser.
Party Leader Darrell Dexter says the advisor, most likely a doctor, will look at ways to best distribute existing resources including doctors and nurses to ensure that pressure is taken off the system.
Towards that end the New Democrats say they will also open three assessment beds to keep the Cobequid Health Centre in Hammonds Plains - Upper Sackville open 24 hours a day.
The health centre currently closes from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. and the NDP says that creates extra strain on emergency rooms in Halifax.
Dexter says keeping the suburban ER open would have a ''ripple effect'' through the system.
Under a bill proposed in the legislature last week, the NDP says it would also require district health authorities to consult with communities in areas where there are chronic ER closures.
