Manitoba news: Nurses union worried about health-care cuts [Video]

The union representing nurses in Manitoba said a recent government directive to cut costs could have an impact on patient care in the province.

Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses’ Union, said the government has directed Shared Health and other health regions to save money in their budget and allocate funding for front-line care from administrative costs.

“They are very concerned that despite the direction from government that this is to come from bureaucracy and go to the front line, that’s not what they’re seeing, and they’re very concerned that the cuts are invariably going to come from the front line and impact even more of our ability to provide really good quality patient care.”

Jackson said the decision has had an impact on nurses already, hearing stories from her members about sick time not being covered by other staff members working overtime.

She said they’re worried nurses will …