Nova Scotia’s auditor general says the Office of Addictions and Mental Health has failed to provide effective oversight of mental health and addiction services and its staff were not aware of all provincially funded centres offering care
In response to a rise in mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government created the office with a dedicated minister in 2021. Five years later, auditor general Kim Adair said the office has insufficient oversight and responsibility for mental health and addiction services — despite its role in setting policy direction and care standards
“We’re concerned that five years in, some of these fundamental aspects which we would expect to be in place by now are not there,” Adair told reporters Tuesday
The audit found the province has spent close to $1 billion on mental health addiction services over the past three years; however, Adair found that the office did not set up standards for access to services to ensure consistent and equitable mental health and addictions care
As well, it said office staff lacked knowledge of the full range of services available to patients or that there were 97 provincially funded centres where mental health and addictions care is offered
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The report comes with 10 recommendations, all of which have been accepted by the provincial government
Brian Comer, the minister for the Office of Addictions and Mental Health, thanked the auditor general for the report. He said Nova Scotia was the first province in Canada to commit to universal access to mental health and addictions care, and a lot of “ambitious” work has happened since 2021
“More Nova Scotians are being connected to care, with more services available through the public health care system, private sector, community-based organizations and post-secondary institutions than ever before,” he said in a statement Tuesday
“Although there’s been tremendous progress, we know there’s more to do.”
Among the recommendations is for the government to create and regularly update a complete list of all provincially funded mental health and addictions services. The province says it will aim to do that by December 2026
Adair’s audit focused on the office’s oversight of mental health and addictions care, but did not evaluate the quality of front-line care
The auditor general said it’s particularly important to pay close attention to the oversight performance of the office because Nova Scotia has higher rates of mood, anxiety and substance use disorders than the national average. Nova Scotia’s rate of hospitalization due to alcohol abuse is also higher than the national average, she said
“Without proper support, these conditions can lead to serious consequences, including increased hospitalizations and challenges related to stable housing and food security,” Adair said
Lisa Lachance, the mental health and addictions critic for the Opposition NDP, said in a statement the province cannot fix the health-care system if it doesn’t keep a comprehensive list of the services available
“As more and more people lose trust in this government, the very least Nova Scotians should be able to expect is honesty about timelines and standards for accessing care,” Lachance said
