Perhaps you are a relatively healthy person and therefore feel little need to concern yourself with the plight of patients and doctors featured in news headlines across the country. Like a majority of Canadians you tend to believe that when you have a serious injury or illness that our health care system will provide the best medical [...]
A new piece of legislation aimed at improving the quality of patient care in Ontario received Royal Assent on June 8th. The Excellent Care for All Act, 2010 comes into law as the province is desperately trying to contain its escalating health care costs in an effort to reduce its $21 billion dollar deficit. The title [...]
The world famous Mayo Clinic, a non-profit organization that owns medical facilities in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida, received much attention during the 2009 health care reform debates in the United States. President Obama praised them for delivering high quality, efficient health care and hailed them as a model to be duplicated across the nation. This shining example [...]
There is good news for patients around the world scheduled to have surgery on May 5, 2010. You may experience a reduced risk for hospital-acquired infections thanks to the observance of a world hand hygiene day. The World Health Organization (WHO) leads this global campaign promoting the importance of hand hygiene within the health care setting. [...]
In the eleventh hour on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 Lyall’s waiting comes to an end. Less than three weeks after his appointment with the Oncologists he succumbs to esophageal cancer. No more pain and suffering, no more medications, nebulizer or oxygen. No more waiting on any lists for health care. Only a few days before, my [...]
In January, the Saskatchewan government launched a “Patient First Review” to examine patient experiences with our health care system as well as current administrative processes. The final report titled “For Patients’ Sake” was released on October 15th. It confirms what most people already know; that our health care system is failing both patients and providers. [...]
What is preventing the necessary changes for improving the Canadian health care system? It is fear. Patients are afraid to speak out for fear of being denied access to care. Health care providers fear losing their jobs or being professionally ostracized. Health care policy-makers and decision-makers are afraid of losing their political power. This fear [...]
In June 2006, I survived an adverse event in a hospital while giving birth to my daughter. In the weeks that followed my condition continued to deteriorate. A lack of accessibility and accountability in the Canadian health care system forced me to become my own patient advocate. Thanks to the internet, I was able find [...]