Manitoba NDP proposes patient charter for health care

The province has tabled legislation it says will set the tone for how health services should be delivered.

The Manitoba NDP is proposing a new law to tell Manitobans exactly what they can expect if they go to hospitals to receive care.

The proposed bill, which was tabled Monday at the Manitoba legislature, would “set the tone for the health-care system,” according to Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara.

“The patient safety charter is our way of making it very, very clear for patients on what they can expect from the health-care system and also making it very clear for the health-care system what patients need to receive in terms of services,” Asagwara said.

A patient safety charter was first mentioned in the 2025 throne speech.

“We will improve safety for patients and staff with a patient safety charter enshrining into law your right to good health care,” the speech reads.

If passed, the bill would set guiding principles for health care for the government to follow and they would be posted online. Some of the principles include that patients are to receive safe, quality health care, and patients are to have “reasonable access to timely and appropriate health care, including primary care, in accordance with clinical guidelines.”

Patients are also expected to have access to health care based on need, not the ability to pay.

The bill also states patients should expect to be treated with respect, receive timely access to care, be able to access care in or close to their home community and have their health situation clearly communicated to them.

Asagwara said more legislation related to the health-care system will be introduced by the NDP in the coming weeks during this session.

“We’re going to be taking a number of steps by way of law that will really help cement the direction we’re taking the health-care system,” they said.