ERs are “dangerous choke points,” reports CBC
This week’s edition of who is saying what about public health care is compiled by Pat Van Horne.
ER numbers ‘staggering’ in all provinces
“The inability to move patients [who were] previously seen and admitted is, in my experience, the No. 1 reason wait times are excessive. . .We refer to that as ‘access block,’ and it prevents patients from getting out of the waiting room and into treatment places,” said Dr. Paul Ratana, emergency department medical director at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, to CBC News, January 13, 2024
Drop in pediatric ER visits during pandemic hasn’t changed outcomes for kids (maybe)
“It’s not so clear-cut. . .It may well be that parents were more likely to just sit and do a bit more watchful waiting,” said Dr. Astrid Guttmann, chief science officer at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, to the Globe and Mail, January 16, 2024
Not fast enough for some residents – ‘Investigators’ to oversee Ontario long-term care homes
“Ontarians don’t trust this government to fix the challenges we face in long-term care. . . The real solutions that will truly help improve standards in long-term care are an increase in the investment and support for exhausted workers. Ensuring fair, decent working conditions will bring us closer to finally providing a minimum of four hours of care a day,” said Wayne Gates, NDP MPP, Niagara Falls, to The Toronto Star, January 15, 2024
Chronic pain under the microscope in Manitoba
“It’s really an investment in the system. It’s about the quality of life of these people, but also the rest of the health-care system . . . There’s lots of things that played into that ability to decrease the wait time and increase our throughput. . . In the meantime, we’re efficiently using the space that we have to ensure that we get more volume of patients through the pain clinic as it exists today, and there’s lots of creative ways that we can use our space still to expand even more than we have already,” said Craig Hillier, provincial director of the Manitoba Pain Care Program, to the Winnipeg Free Press, January 15, 2024
Alberta not a great place to be sick
“It’s all very well to talk about minimizing impacts to front-line services, but this simply cannot be done while cutting emergency staffing and overtime by 10 per cent. . . This is a prescription for driving nurses and other health care workers out of the province and out of the profession. . . This is absolutely contrary to what the government says it intends to do to encourage front-line health care services in Alberta,” said United Nurses of Alberta President Heather Smith to The Tyee’s newsletter, Alberta Edge.
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Singer Jann Arden gets first-hand look at DIY medical care in Alberta
“And then they sent me home with these (a pair of scissors) . . .I’m like, ‘How long do these staples stay in my head?’ They said, ‘Twelve days.’ And I said, ‘Oh, do I just come back to get them out or… ?’ He goes, ‘No, ‘I’ll just send you home with these. You can get a friend to take them out.’” said Jann Arden, to Daily Hive, January 13, 2024
Broadbent looked for better health care; an end to poverty in the midst of affluence
“. . .There are few other things in life that give you as much satisfaction as getting up in the morning and working flat out for what you believe in,” said Ed Broadbent, as quoted in The Toronto Star editorial, January 15, 2024
Federal government funding to speed up foreign credentials for health care workers
“The Foreign Credentials Recognition speeds up the accreditation for 6,600 people, and is not only the right thing to do, but one of the best ways we can fill labour gaps, strengthen our healthcare system and grow our economy,“ said Federal Minister of Employment Randy Boissonnault in a news release quoted in CTV News, January 15, 2024
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