One man\u2019s personal story this week about trying to get medical help and the subsequent outpouring of similar \u201chorror stories\u201d from the public speak volumes about the desperate state of our health care system and the urgent need for reform before more people suffer and die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The time is long past when we can kid ourselves that we have the best \u201cfree\u201d health care system in the world or blame the pandemic and believe the problem is temporary with solutions just waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wake up, folks. We owe it to ourselves and others to demand that our governments show the courage and implement and finance the changes that are needed. Courage because that\u2019s what is needed to take on the many special interest groups whose turf wars or political philosophies stand in the way of change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Money now going to yet another study or commission must be directed to solutions that work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Immigration and regulatory policies must be changed to unlock the skills and training needed to end the critical shortage of health care workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am no expert on health care but I do know that this is a problem that has been allowed to fester for a long time and the breaking point is now in the rearview mirror—not on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At a time of bed shortages in our hospitals, 6,000 beds are occupied by people who could be discharged if there were nursing homes available. With an aging population, how was this situation allowed to develop?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hardly a day goes by without hearing how a friend or relative needs medical care and the best they can hope for is maybe a phone call from a family doctor\u2014if they\u2019re lucky to have one. Many communities and millions of Canadians don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where waiting rooms used to be filled with patients and several doctors staffed family practices, they are almost empty and so are the doctor’s parking spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lights are on but nobody\u2019s home!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where have all the doctors gone? Vacations? Early retirement? Too many working too few hours? Simply missing in action because of stress and fatigue? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The doctor shortage is especially obvious among family practitioners, who are the gatekeepers of the system. Need a new prescription or a repeat on an existing one? You\u2019ll need a doctor and chances are good he\/she requires an office visit or at least a phone call and that could take days or even weeks. Thankfully, many pharmacists are pitching in to help but they\u2019re frustrated and overworked, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mammograms and other screening that used to be routine in the prevention of cancer and other diseases? Postponed or cancelled! Time lost means more suffering, higher costs, and lives lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referral to a specialist? Same routine. Currently, I have friends with suspected symptoms of cancer and all are depending on their family doctor for an appointment that will hopefully lead to tests and referrals to specialists if needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No regular access to a primary care provider? Too bad. You are one of about 5 million Canadians in this dangerous boat\u2014more than a million of them here in Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The City of Kingston has recruited six new doctors but we apparently lost seven to retirement since the pandemic began. Surely, it should not be up to revenue-poor municipalities to compete with each other for health care workers. Isn\u2019t this the job of our provincial and federal governments with greater access to tax revenues and the power to set policies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Queen\u2019s Medical School has added 20 seats to its 2023 enrolment for students to become family doctors. This is considered \u201can ambitious timeline\u201d but is a drop in a very big and leaking bucket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the provinces demand more health care money from the federal government and Ottawa demands a say in how that money is spent. Our leaders are bickering while health care continues to burn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solutions won\u2019t come cheap\u2014or painlessly. Ontario alone is spending $ 75 billion on health care this year and hospitals are crying poor and restricting and closing emergency departments for lack of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But back to the man who this week shone a heck of a big, much-needed spotlight on the situation out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steve Paikin, a highly regarded journalist, author, and broadcaster who is best known for his many years of work with TVOntario, composed a blog about one man\u2019s quest to get a doctor to advise him about a painful knee. The man, it turns out, is Paikin himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paikin is fortunate to have an attentive family doctor but it turns out he was on vacation for two more weeks and the pain was such that Steve couldn\u2019t wait. He was advised to find a walk-in clinic and that\u2019s what he set out to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Friday and his first clinic choice was closed. The next nearest clinic was open but all of its doctors were on vacation. He called a third clinic but when he described his symptoms, staff told him they didn\u2019t feel they had the right personnel to diagnose the problem and advised him to go elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSeveral more blocks away, there was another clinic but, alas, it wasn\u2019t a walk-in clinic. You had to have an appointment.\u201d Forms had to be filled out on the clinic\u2019s website and it took two days to even hear back from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our hapless patient limped on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a medical-arts building several blocks away and Paikin decide to give it a try. This was his sixth interaction with a health care provider, the pain was increasing, and he was literally getting nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A staffer patiently listened to Paikin\u2019s description of his problem but said, \u201cThis isn\u2019t a walk-in clinic, I\u2019m afraid. We\u2019re a doctors\u2019 office and we\u2019re not taking new patients. And, besides, there are no doctors here at the moment anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then a ray of hope. The door opened and a man arrived and Paikin hoped this could be a real, live physician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSir,\u201d said Paikin,\u201d may I ask your advice about something?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe man didn\u2019t look up. He walked right past (Paikin) and through a door to his office in the back and said, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paikin describes how he was taken aback at the doctor\u2019s response. He himself had been polite in asking the question but given that the doctor had given him \u201cthe bum\u2019s rush\u201d he returned to the receptionist, commented on his increasing pain, and asked if she had any advice for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her advice was to find a walk-in clinic or go to a hospital emergency department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that point, the doctor returned to the scene, saw him talking to the receptionist and told him, \u201cyou have to get out of here right now. If you won\u2019t get out, I\u2019ll call the police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paikin admits he was \u201cgobsmacked.\u201d He thanked the receptionist and left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve known Steve Paikin for well over 20 years. He is a consummate gentleman and professional. Even in times of great stress and pressure, I have never known him to be anything but polite and respectful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His health care blog has gone viral and he has been overwhelmed by the response and the kind of similar \u201chorror\u201d stories we\u2019ve all heard or experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Steve Paikin with his knowledge and experience can\u2019t get primary health care, what are the chances for ordinary working stiffs inexperienced in dealing with bureaucracy and perhaps newcomers with limited language skills?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today there are signs all over hospitals and doctors\u2019 offices and other public offices warning the public that bad behaviour won\u2019t be tolerated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s face it: the chaos in our health care system is making some people unhinged\u2014including the doctor who threatened to call the police on Steve Paikin, an innocent patient just looking for some advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paikin concludes his blog as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, Ontario\u2019s health care system has been through the ringer over the two-plus years of COVID-19. And, yes, I\u2019m sure everyone\u2019s nerves are more frayed these days (although interestingly, every assistant I dealt with during my numerous interventions was unfailingly civil.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI guess $ 75 billion doesn\u2019t buy you what it used to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As usual, Steve, you got that right!<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2020\/10\/Sally-Barnes.jpg\")
Sally Barnes has enjoyed a distinguished career as a writer, journalist and author. Her work has been recognized in a number of ways, including receiving a Southam Fellowship in Journalism at Massey College at the University of Toronto. A self-confessed political junkie, she has worked in the back-rooms for several Ontario premiers. In addition to a number of other community contributions, Sally Barnes served a term as president of the Ontario Council on the Status of Women. She is a former business colleague of Doppler\u2019s publisher, Hugh Mackenzie, and lives in Kingston, Ontario. You can find her online at sallybarnesauthor.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\nDon\u2019t miss out on Doppler!<\/h5>\n