AG Recommendations Will Improve Oversight of Mental Health and Addictions Services
For release June 23 – Five years in and the Office of Addictions and Mental Health is not providing effective oversight of mental health and addictions services in Nova Scotia, the Auditor General says in a new report.
In 2021, the Government established the Office with its own Minister in response to the increased needs of Nova Scotians during the COVID-19 pandemic. A key priority of the Office is the implementation of universal mental health and addictions care, providing Nova Scotians access to a variety of services and resources regardless of their ability to pay.
Nova Scotia has higher than the national average rates of mood and anxiety disorders and substance use disorders. Without proper support, these conditions can lead to serious consequences, including increased hospitalization and challenges related to stable housing and food security.
As one of its primary responsibilities, the Office funds mental health and addictions services, with total overall funding over the past three years of close to $1 billion.
“It’s been five years since its creation, and the Office’s role, responsibilities and distinction from the Department of Health and Wellness are not clear,” says Auditor General Kim Adair.
The audit reveals that the Office has limited oversight responsibility for mental health and addictions services despite its role setting policy direction, priorities, and standards for mental health and addictions services.
The audit also found that no service access standards were established to enable consistent and equitable access to mental health and addictions services for Nova Scotians. In addition, the Office lacks knowledge of the full range of services and service locations available across the province.
While the Office engages with Nova Scotia Health and the IWK Health Centre regularly, which supports system collaboration, reporting requirements for these two partners were found to lack clear expectations and did not contain benchmarks or targets to measure performance. There is limited monitoring of this reporting by the Office, and it does not publicly report on the performance of mental health and addictions services in Nova Scotia.
The Auditor General did note a governance structure and workplan has been established for the implementation of universal mental health and addictions care, which includes timelines for the completion of various initiatives.
The audit did not examine the delivery of mental health and addictions services to Nova Scotians.
As a result of the audit, the report makes 10 recommendations to strengthen the oversight, management, and public reporting of mental health and addictions services.
With such a high prevalence of mental health and addiction issues in the province, it’s important the Office effectively oversees mental health and addictions services to provide access to care for all Nova Scotians, says the Auditor General.