Davies calls on premiers to deliver action plans on health care
This week’s edition of who is saying what about public health care features NDP Health Critic Don Davies on the urgent need for provincial action plans on health care, the Canadian Medical Association’s plan for health care reform, calls for national standards on LGBTQ identities in medical records, and plans to make long-term care better for Black seniors.
Deliver your action plan, Davies tells premiers
“The Canadian healthcare system is under serious stress, if not crisis. It requires significant attention, resources, and solutions at every level of every type,” said NDP Health Critic Don Davies, who also said provinces must recognize there is an “urgency” to complete such plans and get funding out the door. He also called on Ottawa to refuse any action plans that would utilize private delivery, in the Hill Times, July 10, 2023
Canadian Medical Association lays out plan for health care reform
“We can all agree that the status quo is not working. Our health systems won’t change unless we change how we’re trying to solve our many problems. These targets are about action — accelerating effective change to solve the number one issue for all Canadians . . . To achieve this, we must measure the things that matter most for the patient and provider experience. By gathering and measuring data in ways we never have before in our health systems, we can better understand how to move forward. Measurement drives action. If we can agree on what we need to do differently, governments and health system leaders can clearly map out the key milestones needed to achieve real improvements,” stated Canadian Medical Association Dr. Alika Lafontaine, CMA News Release, July 5, 2023, in advance of the Premiers’ meeting in Winnipeg, July 11
A call for national standards to include LGBTQ identities in medical records
“Lesbian, gay, bisexual or queer people do have unique health needs and at times also experience higher rates of physical and mental health issues. . . These commitments are expected to improve the quality and safety of patient care and provide decision makers with a more complete picture of the health-care system,” said Michael Kwag, executive director, Community-Based Research Centre, Vancouver, The Canadian Press, July 6, 2023
Nova Scotia plans long-term care that meets the needs of Black seniors
“We heard from Black people who would talk about the need for care that understands their skin, their hair — care that is respectful of them and responsive to the impact of the trauma and the harm that our people have endured… What we’re looking for is not a cookie-cutter or a one-size fits all approach. What we’re looking for is an approach … that is available to our people from one end of the province to the other,” said Sharon Davis-Murdoch, co-founder of the Health Association of African Canadians (HAAC), CBC News, July 11, 2023
Long-term care operators with poor care records getting tax dollars to expand
“I think they shouldn’t be rewarded. In fact, I don’t think they should be getting licences. “I really am concerned that (the government) is not using the tools that they said that they put in the legislation (Fixing Long-Term Care Act) that was supposed to make it easier for the government to lay fines. . . Because we’re not doing full inspections, we have yet to see the full range of really what’s going on in long-term care today. The operators, I think, feel that they can sort of get away with a lot of things because there hasn’t been consequences of any real sort at all. They’re getting more money, they’re getting new buildings, which the province is funding, and they’re getting extra licences, more beds, so nothing has happened in that realm,” said Jane Meadus, a lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly in Ontario, CBC Investigates, July 10, 2023
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Manitoba big spenders on private nurses
“What we’ve basically done is exhausted our nurses in this province with the use of overtime and mandated overtime. We’re now at a point where those nurses can no longer sustain the workloads and the lack of work-life balance they’ve had… This government is going to have to go a lot further to level that playing field between nurses in the public system and nurses in the private system,” said Manitoba Nurses Union President Darlene Jackson to the Winnipeg Free Press, July 7, 2023
More African countries to receive millions of malaria vaccines
“At least 28 African countries have expressed interest in receiving the RTS,S [malaria] vaccine,” said World Health Ogranization Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to CBC News, July 5, 2023
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