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- š³ Reality Check for Public Health System!
š³ Reality Check for Public Health System!
Good morning, Other Siders! Hope you all have enjoyed the long weekend and feel optimistic about being back to work. Phew! Donāt we all know how that feels š, but letās keep to the theme and rememberā¦
āUnless there is Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.ā - F.J. Sheen
If that was not enough, hereās todayās motivational quote to keep you SUPER š„through the week:
āWhen something goes wrong in your life just yell āPLOT TWISTā and move onā
News that impacts you!
š¤ š„ New Poll Reveals Canadians' Growing Dissatisfaction with Public Healthcare System
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Less than half of Canadians are satisfied with their provincial health care system, and the majority believe private entities can provide faster services, according to a new Ipsos poll. The study reveals that the need for efficient healthcare has plagued Canada for the past few years, with many Canadians saying wait times for emergency room visits and finding a family doctor are too long. Doubt in the system is higher among the Atlantic provinces compared to other regions. The crisis has compounded with the burnout of physicians and nurses, and in some instances, has resulted in people not getting the care they need. A majority of Canadians believe private entities are able to provide health care services faster than publicly funded institutions. About 52 percent of Canadians agree that access to private health care should be increased, the Ipsos poll found.
š«š°Canada's Supreme Court Rejects Private Health Care Challenge, Upholds Universal Access
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Canada's Supreme Court has rejected Dr. Brian Day's 14-year legal challenge to allow patients access to private care when the public healthcare system cannot offer timely care. Day, the owner of the Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver, claimed that prolonged wait times for medical procedures violated two Charter rights, including the right to life, liberty and security of the person. However, the court rejected his claim, arguing that universal health care provides equal access to medical care regardless of an individual's ability to pay. While experts argue against private health care in Canada, Day contended that it prevented patients from accessing private medical treatment when the public system could not provide timely care.
š©š¼āāļø Transforming Patient Care: BC Implements Nurse-to-Patient Ratios
British Columbia (BC) will become the first Canadian province to introduce mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios throughout its healthcare system. The initiative will impact the province's 51,500 registered, psychiatric, and licensed practical nurses. The ratios will be set for nurses in community-based practice, hospitals, and long-term care. The proposed ratios vary depending on the unit and level of care. The hope is that the new standards will encourage nurse recruitment and retention and improve working conditions and patient outcomes. The announcement includes $750 million in new funding over the next three years to find the number of nurses required to achieve these ratios. The BC Nurses' Union has been advocating for nurse-patient ratios for more than two decades.
Tools & Tech to keep a tab on!
š§ No matter who you are, where youāre from, what you do..as long as you LOVE you šµ
The struggles of settling base in a new country is not unknown! In doing so, it is often easy to deprioritize your physical & mental health as you try to keep up with all the new beginnings. That is why the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) along with the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) and community partner organizations nationwide has created a new specialized training resource for mental health professionals to assist in providing evidence-based mental health support to people of South Asian origin, the largest racialized group in Canada.
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The new training provides guidance to clinicians of all backgrounds on how to implement a new form of culturally adapted cognitive behavioural therapy (CaCBT) that is based on a person's cultural background, context, language, and belief. Undoubtedly, this initiative would be a blessing for those in need of culturally competent mental health providers who can investigate beyond just the medical context.
P.S. Our little reminder- Never forget to love yourself while you embrace new beginnings.
š High Time to Do Away with Fax Machines
Nova Scotia is set to utilize an e-tool for surgical consult referrals to improve the tracking, review, and management of referrals. The e-tool will include wait time information to enable faster consults and patients will also have the choice to select a surgeon for consultation, for example, a patient could choose to travel farther away if a surgeon is available to perform a procedure sooner. Additional functionality will be added and improved as the number of users increases.
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Patients just need to share their email addresses to receive notifications when their referral is received, forwarded to a surgeon, and when a consultation is booked or changed. The service is set to go live for primary-care providers and surgeons at Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health on Friday, April 07. This is a significant step towards increasing transparency & enabling patient choice in accessing care.
"We really want to move toward these e-referral processes ā so much safer for patients, more efficient, so we really are pleased with this step and think it will make a big difference for providers and patients."
š©» Albertans Can Now Access their Diagnostic Imaging Tests Results at their fingertips
Eligible patients will be able to access results from their imaging tests such as X-ray, CT & MRI directly from the provincial government's My Personal Records (MPR) application, part of the government's online portal for Albertans' health information, MyHealth Records. Results will be shared at the same time as it would with the ordering physician eliminating the 5-day from the time physicians and other care providers received the results to when those results were released to patients.
Many might think that having such information in hand might be distressing without a doctor explaining what it means; the benefits have been proposed to outweigh such concerns with options such as calling 811 available to discuss the reports while waiting to connect with a healthcare provider.
"We are gradually moving away from what you could call, maybe, the more paternalistic model where the doctor tells you what you have and explains everything and tells you what you should do, towards more of a collaborative, shared decision-making approach where patients are going to be more savvy, more understanding and have a better awareness of their health, including results,"
š š If You Can āUberā Your Way to Just Anything, Then Why Should Healthcare be Far Away?
Uber Health recently announced that healthcare providers and health plans will be able to manage prescription delivery from any pharmacy in their service area through the same platform they already use to coordinate transportation for patients. This is great news for those that struggle with mobility and adherence to medications. Looking at the sheer scale of the Uber Network, it is not wrong to believe that Uber Health will play a significant role in strengthening the connectivity between patients & healthcare facilities in the coming years.
Evolving Global Health
š¦ Donāt say we did not warn you!
If you are one of our avid readers, you would have already been acquainted with the rising threat of the Marburg virus. If not you, then at least the UAE paid heed to our section on the virus (just kiddingā¦we know you did & appreciate it).
Owing to the growing number of cases of Marburg hemorrhagic fever, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) has advised travellers to avoid or postpone travel to Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea. Passengers travelling from Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea have been advised to isolate and seek medical help if displaying symptoms of hemorrhagic fever for more than 21 days. This is in addition to several other Arab countries doing the same. The situation is currently being closely monitored by the UAEās epidemiological surveillance system to determine the severity and global impact.
Zimbabweās Paternalistic & Controversial Efforts to Reverse Medical Brain Drain
Zimbabwe's vice president and health minister, Constantino Chiwenga announced that the government would introduce a law to criminalize foreign recruitment of healthcare workers. This has been met with strong resentment from healthcare workers as well as Dr. Norman Matara, the head of Zimbabweās Association of Doctors for Human Rights.
The reality however speaks in favour of Dr. Matara and shows that health workers are deciding to leave due to low remuneration, poor working conditions, and lack of required equipment. Furthermore, in January made it was illegal for healthcare workers to strike for more than three days.
What are your thoughts on such an approach? Whose side are you on? If none, weād still like to hear your own opinion.
šLet us know what you think by writing to us at [email protected]
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