Canada’s health care not good enough: report
May 31, 2011
Comments on this story
(0)
Joanna Smith
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA—The Canadian health care system has moved very slowly — when it has not stalled completely — towards meeting goals political leaders proclaimed would fix the system for a generation.
A progress report from the Health Council of Canada concludes the $41.3-billion decade-long health accord the federal and provincial governments signed seven years ago has not come close to accomplishing what it set out to, even as leaders prepare to negotiate the terms of the next one.
“Leadership and stewardship in health care come from governments,” the council says in the report released Tuesday.
“While much of the progress since the accords has been generated by individual jurisdictions acting in the interests of their own citizens, the next push lies in having all governments work together — across the full spectrum of health care — in the interests of all Canadians, which was the real promise of the accords.”
The report charts progress on key components of the 2004 agreement, including wait times, telephone access to health advice, drug coverage and electronic health records.
The report is optimistic about reduced wait times and commended governments for moving beyond an early focus on specific procedures to start tackling emergency room line-ups as well, although the situation can vary greatly for different hospitals and types of treatment.
“We believe that continued coordinated effort and greater use of effective management tools could make wait times management one of the success stories of the health accords,” says the report.
On the other hand, the council sees little good news when it comes to a national pharmaceutical strategy, noting it reported two years ago that talks had stalled and that there has been no momentum since.
“It is important to note that Canada’s patchwork of public drug plans can limit patients’ ability to move around the country, and their access to medications,” says the report.
The council notes some provinces have begun to pool their resources to help bring down the cost of drugs through joint purchasing programs, which is something the provincial and territorial health ministers endorsed at their annual meeting last fall.
Featured Sponsored Listings