Public health renewal in Nova Scotia:The perfect storm

Following the SARS outbreak in Canada and the release of Learning from SARS (the Naylor Report), Nova Scotia undertook an external review of its public health system. The mandate of the review was to assess the current public health system in the context of nationally recognized reports and recommendations, assess its strengths, limitations and opportunities to ensure a system that is responsive, integrated, coordinated, efficient and effective and to provide recommendations. A collaborative process that engaged senior officials from multiple provincial government departments, district health authorities, academia and the non-governmental sector provided advice at sentinel points of the review.

The result was the perfect storm! It consisted of good planning, good timing and good luck! In 2006 the report was accepted, released and a new Department was announced – the Department of Health Promotion and Protection. Twenty-one actions for system renewal were identified clustered into 5 main themes: strengthening the provincial level of the system, strengthening the local level of the system, strengthening how the two levels work together, strengthening how the public health system interfaces with the broader health system and to strengthen public health infrastructure: human resources, information and organization.

Major investment over the past three years has occurred across the public health system. System renewal of a provincial public health system is complex, engages a wide range of partners and it brings opportunity as well as challenge. This presentation will provide an overview of the review process, action to date and challenges facing the system.