Ontario NDP want new plan to hire and retain health care workers

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is calling for Bill 124 to be scrapped and replaced with a comprehensive plan for hiring health care workers.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is calling for Bill 124 to be scrapped and replaced with a comprehensive plan for hiring health care workers.

The NDP points to nurse shortages at the London Health Sciences Centre and Clinton Public Hospital, and understaffing leading to increasing burnout rates, as part of the reason a new strategy is needed.

The NDP also blames Bill 124 for falling wages, another factor contributing to staffing issues.

In a statement Horwath said, "Health care workers are heroes, and we need more heroes...To solve the long waits in London, we need a province-wide aggressive recruitment and retention strategy."

CTV News London's Bryan Bicknell was at the announcement and will have more at 6.