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March 02, 2007
Bottleneck in Canada’s Health-Care System
Source: Toronto Globe and Mail- January31/07
Description of Issue:
The issue concerns the commitment of the Federal Conservative Party to "fix" the waiting-time problem in health care. The Canadian Medical Association on behalf of the country's doctors indicated that the wait-line problem is still pressing. The 2004 Canadian Health Accord identified 5 priority areas: Cardiac Care /Cancer /Joint Replacement /Cataracts and /Diagnostic Imagery. Dr. Louise Cloutier, a physician from Halifax, Nova Scotia noted that the focus on some types of care is making waits for other medical interventions longer. In addition, emergency department waits are linked to bottlenecks in other parts of the health care system. Benchmarks for a broad range of procedures back by resources are required to improve Canada’s health care system.
Implication for Pharmacy:
Canada prides itself in being one of the best countries in the world to live. Yet, there are many patients who do not get what would be considered adequate management or standard of care. It is very challenging for pharmacists to support, monitor and follow-up with their patients in the absence of initial proper and adequate care. In addition, pharmacists often have to wait to see patients whose medical issues don't fall into the priority areas.
Posted by mmacneil at March 2, 2007 06:40 PM