Stephen Harper Begins his Assault on Healthcare

[L Gilbert]

We are extremely disappointed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to end support for the Health Council of Canada....Everyone in this country should be deeply concerned because the federal government is distancing itself from the health and health care of Canadians.

Or take it from my friends at Canadian Doctors for Medicare.




“The federal government is no longer walking away from health care, it’s sprinting at full speed,” said Dr. Ryan Meili, vice-chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare. “Cutting funding to the Health Council means cutting information on sustainability, quality and efficiency of our health care system – information that Canadians should be able to expect from their government.”



Killing the Health Council bad for Canada’s health care system, say docs | Media Releases



Because their impulses are noble. And they love our precious healthcare system, and want to make it even better.

I've explained many times why Stephen Harper hates medicare. Because it embodies the softer, more caring values of the Canada he despises so much.

By reducing transfers, just as the boomers start flooding into our hospitals. By forcing the provinces to pay more for services like retraining workers. By making them pay to house more prisoners. By throwing more and more unemployed Canadians off E.I. and on to provincial welfare rolls.

Sooner or later, the provinces, especially the poorer ones, will be forced to cry uncle. And the private health care vultures will move in. Just like they have in Britain, where the Cameron Cons are gutting the National Health System.

And forcing public hospitals to reserve 49 percent of their beds for private patients.


For let me be absolutely clear if we don't stop Harper and his gang of inhuman monsters, if we don't listen to the doctors and the nurses, if we allow the Cons to blind us, and condemn us to walk in the darkness.

As I've said so many times before.

We or our loved ones WILL end up in a horrible place.

In a country we don't recognize...

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Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper Begins his Assault on Medicare

That's a bit funny considering that because of the Gliberals consistent unwillingness and inability to deal with healthcare as well as their constant whittling down of the federal financial interests in it, infrastructure, maintenance, and much of the rest of it has been increasingly a provincial issue. IOW, federal involvement in healthcare is redundant to provincial involvement. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing the feds should have to do with healthcare is help the provinces keep a minimum standard across the country. (Same for education).
And if I break a leg or get some infection or other, I really couldn't care less whether my healthcare comes from gov't or some private healthcare outfit. I have insurance.

Investment in infrastructure is always good.

Anyways, I went looking for info on the Health Council of Canada, it's an NGO whose mandate is to, well, here, you check it out.

Seems to me that it's kind of redundant given the fact that the provinces pretty much do an equally poor job of doing the same thing.

Maybe it isn't such a bad idea after all.

Exactly.

The Canadian Healthcare system (I use the term very loosely) needs to be pulled from the hands of the Provinces and be centralized with a standard that is country wide. You want to know what's wrong with our system. Too many ivory towers and no standard practices.

lol You really think federal bureaucrats and politicians are better than territorial and provincial ones?
I suppose your idea would be cool if the fed gov't was allowed to make money at enterprises like private outfits so it can afford the country's healthcare,that would be a bit communistic, wouldn't it? So the result is that the feds tax us and business to pay for what drives gov't. And if the fed were to take on more of the burden of healthcare, don't you suppose it would want more and more taxes? I'm not really liking that idea considering that the Boomers are starting to slip into the ranks of the old and fragile. IOW, the bigger the gov't the more wasteful and inefficient it is. I'll stick with a provincial healhthcare, goofy as it is here, thanks.

 

[petros]

Well, here's a recent report from just March of this year, detailing a Saskatchewan program that has effectively reduced waiting times:
http://www.healthcouncilcanada.ca/tree/HCC_QI_Innovative_Practices_EN.pdf

From November 2007 to December 2012,
The number of patients waiting more than 18 months for surgery has dropped by 93%.
The number of patients waiting more than 12 months for surgery has dropped by 82%.
The number of patients waiting more than six months for surgery has dropped by 58%.
The number of patients waiting more than three months for surgery has dropped by 46%.
As of December 31, 2012, all three components of the surgical safety checklist were performed in 96% of audited surgeries throughout the province.
​

That's very good news, and the Health Council of Canada next steps were to prepare a report on technology transfer. Considering wait time reductions have been a primary goal of Health Canada for the last decade or so, it seems to me that killing a program designed to take effective processes and ease the implementation across Canada is short-sighted.

Those numbers are held together by band-aids and came at a hefty price

How do people rate the health system in SK post hack and slash to reduce wait times? What is the quality of the service? How is post surgical care? Are recovery times in hospital long enough? Did the surgeons do a the best possible job within mandated time constraints? Did they have access to the best possible imaging and diagnosis tools?

Would they know or would Sask College of Physciains and Surgeons? Which groups better suits my and physician needs in SK?

 

[L Gilbert]

Well, here's a recent report from just March of this year, detailing a Saskatchewan program that has effectively reduced waiting times:
http://www.healthcouncilcanada.ca/tree/HCC_QI_Innovative_Practices_EN.pdf

From November 2007 to December 2012,
The number of patients waiting more than 18 months for surgery has dropped by 93%.
The number of patients waiting more than 12 months for surgery has dropped by 82%.
The number of patients waiting more than six months for surgery has dropped by 58%.
The number of patients waiting more than three months for surgery has dropped by 46%.
As of December 31, 2012, all three components of the surgical safety checklist were performed in 96% of audited surgeries throughout the province.​

That's very good news, and the Health Council of Canada next steps were to prepare a report on technology transfer. Considering wait time reductions have been a primary goal of Health Canada for the last decade or so, it seems to me that killing a program designed to take effective processes and ease the implementation across Canada is short-sighted.

Good point, but do the provinces really need the HCC to gather and share info?

Thanks, that's cool for Sask.

I really don't know how Ontario has faired statistically, but on the ground it doesn't feel so good.

Same here. Still takes months and sometimes a year or two to get a procedure done here.

Why can't Canada keep the health care system they have, but adopt one US idea that might stop abuse??

Copayment or copay - every time you visit a doctor you pay a $20 copay, Urgent Care $50 and Emergency $100.

If that doesn't stop abuse, I don't know what will.. the copays can go back into our medical system and improve on it..

If you're on welfare, you can get some sorta a voucher or special card from the province if you need medical attention.

The system is not broken, it's just over used by people who really don't need to be going to emergency for a hang nail..

...

We call them "user fees" here in BC and we do pay for some services.

Those numbers are held together by band-aids and came at a hefty price

How do people rate the health system in SK post hack and slash to reduce wait times? What is the quality of the service? How is post surgical care? Are recovery times in hospital long enough? Did the surgeons do a the best possible job within mandated time constraints? Did they have access to the best possible imaging and diagnosis tools?

Would they know or would Sask College of Physciains and Surgeons? Which groups better suits my and physician needs in SK?

Really good point.

 

[petros]

It's a waste of money to fund redundancies and getting Feds out of Provincial affairs is returning to how Canada was set up to be run. Feds were secondary to provinces.

 

[L Gilbert]

Yep. Let the feds deal with Canada's relations with other countries and leave the internals to the provinces.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Those numbers are held together by band-aids and came at a hefty price

How do people rate the health system in SK post hack and slash to reduce wait times? What is the quality of the service? How is post surgical care? Are recovery times in hospital long enough? Did the surgeons do a the best possible job within mandated time constraints? Did they have access to the best possible imaging and diagnosis tools?

Would they know or would Sask College of Physciains and Surgeons? Which groups better suits my and physician needs in SK?

I know someone who had to spend five days in a hospital about a year ago here
in Regina, Sakatchewan. I think the first night was spent in a hallway, and the
next two in a recliner in an empty office with two other patients in recliners,
and the last two nights in an actual patient room with three other patients
where it sounded like it was busier than the hallway (less meds?) with
the one patient's drunk husband making an **** out'a himself for hours
outside of the visiting hours.

 

[JLM]

I know someone who had to spend five days in a hospital about a year ago here
in Regina, Sakatchewan. I think the first night was spent in a hallway, and the
next two in a recliner in an empty office with two other patients in recliners,
and the last two nights in an actual patient room with three other patients
where it sounded like it was busier than the hallway (less meds?) with
the one patient's drunk husband making an **** out'a himself for hours
outside of the visiting hours.

Sounds about par, it seems many drunks end up in hospital in one capacity or another! -

 

[petros]

I know someone who had to spend five days in a hospital about a year ago here
in Regina, Sakatchewan. I think the first night was spent in a hallway, and the
next two in a recliner in an empty office with two other patients in recliners,
and the last two nights in an actual patient room with three other patients
where it sounded like it was busier than the hallway (less meds?) with
the one patient's drunk husband making an **** out'a himself for hours
outside of the visiting hours.

That sounds about right. There are tricks to ER and getting a room.

Just say you just got home from Asia and you were exposed to someone with TB and you'll get your own room.

 

[L Gilbert]

That sounds about right. There are tricks to ER and getting a room.

Just say you just got home from Asia and you were exposed to someone withTB and you'll get your own room.

lol Reminds me of a buddy's comment (he's a cop) one time after a mutual friend's house was robbed. He said if our friend wanted us to show up promptly after he was robbed, he should have said there'd been a murder.

 

[JLM]

That sounds about right. There are tricks to ER and getting a room.

Just say you just got home from Asia and you were exposed to someone with TB and you'll get your own room.

I'd think twice on that one, you could end up getting your T.B. treatment in jail! -

 

[L Gilbert]

I'd think twice on that one, you could end up getting your T.B. treatment in jail! -

BS. People misdiagnose themselves all the time.

 

[JLM]

BS. People misdiagnose themselves all the time.

Yep, they do but they don't all lie about it! -

 

[L Gilbert]

Yep, they do but they don't all lie about it! -

So you expect hospital staff to become experts at figuring out who is lying now (I mean besides looking after your aches n pains, doing paperwork, etc.)? And the cops should run around arresting liars who want quicker attention to their aches and pains that they're getting?
Yeeeeaaah, oooookaaaay

 

[Goober]

So you expect hospital staff to become experts at figuring out who is lying now (I mean besides looking after your aches n pains, doing paperwork, etc.)? And the cops should run around arresting liars who want quicker attention to their aches and pains that they're getting?
Yeeeeaaah, oooookaaaay

Only the live ones will lie. I suggest treating the dead first as they are truthful. Tight lipped but truthful.

 

[JLM]

So you expect hospital staff to become experts at figuring out who is lying now (I mean besides looking after your aches n pains, doing paperwork, etc.)? And the cops should run around arresting liars who want quicker attention to their aches and pains that they're getting?
Yeeeeaaah, oooookaaaay

If there's even a whisper of T.B. anywhere within a hundred miles, a lot of people go ballistic.

 

[Goober]

If there's even a whisper of T.B. anywhere within a hundred miles, a lot of people go ballistic.

Well ya don't want to get the new type, resistant to drug treatments.

 

[petros]

If there's even a whisper of T.B. anywhere within a hundred miles, a lot of people go ballistic.

It's more common than you think.

 

[JLM]

It's more common than you think.

Yep, from what I've heard, BUT, I was told several years ago the numbers aren't as scary as they sound......the scenario goes something like this, before AIDS about 0.00001% of the population had it, and then it was 0.00008% (numbers approx. to make a point), so it was broadcasted that T.B. had spiked by 800% overnight. What caused the rise was a couple of hundred AIDS victims with a compromised immune system. So if you don't have AIDS Petros, your chances are about the same as before.

 

[JamesBondo]

The title is assinine.

 

[JLM]

The title is assinine.

That was my first impression, must have been a drama queen that posted it.