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Canada needs to work faster to solve its critical shortage of physicians and other health care workers and other systemic problems, the Health Council of Canada says in its first report.
Canada also needs to work harder to bring health care closer to home for Aboriginal people, states the report and strengthen primary health care. Electronic patient records, which would reduce the amount of diagnositic testing, is also long overdue.
Canada has invested “significant funds” to reform the system, but the money is not providing immediate relief, Council Chair Michael Decter said when he released the report in late January.
Solving human resource shortages is key to achieving positive change, he said. The Council recommends that resource planning be focused on health care teams, and that students train on a team basis as well. The Council will host a National Human Health Resource summit in June .
“None of the reforms will succeed unless we have enough well-trained providers to run the system,” Decter said.
As if to illustrate the report's findings, about 250 Ontario anesthesiologists held a 1-day meeting in Toronto on Feb. 11 in lieu of working, to publicize a shortage of about 90 anesthesiologists in the province. The job action closed operating rooms at 27 hospitals to all but essential surgeries on that day.
There are 450 vacancies for anesthesiologists across Canada, says Dr. Ren Mann, president of the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society.
When Nova Scotia's premier expressed concern about the shortage, Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh directed him to the federal $4.5 billion Wait Times Reduction Fund. But that fund, which was to begin disbursing money this year, still requires legislative authority. Bill C-39, which will implement the fund, was tabled Feb. 7 but had not passed as of press time (Feb. 28), meaning that no money has yet been disbursed.