Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2021
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2021
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
News

Doctors endorse development of patient charter

Lauren Vogel
CMAJ September 21, 2010 182 (13) E655-E656; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.109-3354
Lauren Vogel
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Tables
  • Metrics
  • Responses
  • PDF
Loading

Doctors gave overwhelming support to the development of a national patient charter and other patient-friendly initiatives at the Canadian Medical Association’s 143rd annual general meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

They also urged Canadian educators to revise medical school curricula to better prepare future doctors to provide patient-centred care but sought to curb the parameters of a motion calling on CMA to study how end-of-life and palliative care fits into the picture for fear it might raise the contentious issues of euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide.

They were eager, though, to encourage more work on the development of a charter of patient rights in partnership with provincial medical associations, patient advocacy groups and other medical and health organizations. The delegates voted 97% in favour of that effort during a strategic session on patient-centred care on Monday.

The move drew the praise of a leading patient advocate, who called the charter a “covenant” between doctors and the Canadian public.

“If we are all driven by the gold standard in terms of that transformation, I think we will end up with a system that does put patients at the very centre,” said Durhane Wong-Reiger, president and CEO of the Institute for Optimizing Health Outcomes.

But she warned that a patient charter will be “meaningless” if not backed by legislation.

Some 250 delegates representing 73 000 CMA members from across Canada directed the association to conduct a review of “the international experience with the implementation of patient charters and related instruments” in order to “develop options for accountability.”

International experience with patient charters indicates that nonbinding rights have limited utility, while efforts to quantify the efficacy of such charters have often been hampered by the fact that accountability metrics are often embryonic, if not nonexistent (www.cmaj.ca/cgi/doi/10.1503/cmaj.109-3342).

Figure1
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint

Canadian doctors agree: the focus in health care should be on the patient. At the Canadian Medical Association’s 143rd annual general meeting, delegates voted 97% in favour of the development of a charter of patient rights in partnership with provincial medical associations, patient advocacy groups and other medical and health organizations. Image courtesy of © 2010 Jupiterimages Corp.

It’s hoped that the federal and provincial governments will eventually clamber aboard the charter train.

Delegates also called upon the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, College of Family Physicians of Canada, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the nation’s 17 medical faculties to refine and utilize the concepts of patient-centred care “in the teaching and training of medical students and residents.”

They also directed CMA to conduct an “intensive” health literacy campaign among physicians and to work with governments and other medical associations to ensure that patient-focused funding initiatives are evidence-based and “support the timeliness, safety and quality of patient care.”

However, discussion bogged down around proposals relating to end-of-life care.

Delegates somewhat reluctantly voted (65 in favour, 25 opposed, and 8 abstentions) to endorse the inclusion of “appropriate end-of-life and palliative care” among patient rights sketched in CMA’s blueprint for health care transformation.

More contentious was a motion compelling CMA to “undertake a comprehensive study to identify and document end-of-life practices in Canada to shed light on the debate surrounding the issue.”

Several delegates feared the emphasis on “debate” would create the perception that the association was investing in research on euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide.

“Nobody really knew what the debate was and what dark holes the light had to go into. I wasn’t in a position or informed to discuss any of the issues around physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, which are very sensitive issues,” says CMA President-Elect Dr. John Haggie, a delegate from Newfoundland and Labrador.

The delegates quickly scotched all reference to “debate,” giving CMA the green light to conduct only “a study to identify and document end-of-life practices.”

“It was a matter of less is more,” says Haggie. “There are huge gaps in care based on where you live, and demographic changes have added an extra urgency to that.”

Delegates were also apprised of a CMA-commissioned poll that found that four in every five Canadians believe the demands placed on the health care system by aging baby boomers will result in reduced access and lower quality care (www.cma.ca/advocacy/silver-tsunami).

Close to 75% of respondents also feared growing health costs will result in significant tax hikes and an inability of senior citizens to afford health care.

Footnotes

  • Published at www.cmaj.ca on Aug. 25

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 182 (13)
CMAJ
Vol. 182, Issue 13
21 Sep 2010
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Doctors endorse development of patient charter
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Doctors endorse development of patient charter
Lauren Vogel
CMAJ Sep 2010, 182 (13) E655-E656; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.109-3354

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Doctors endorse development of patient charter
Lauren Vogel
CMAJ Sep 2010, 182 (13) E655-E656; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.109-3354
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Footnotes
  • Figures & Tables
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • A patient charter of rights: how to avoid a toothless tiger and achieve system improvement
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • How can Canada safeguard those marginalized by society as MAiD expands?
  • Canadian physicians frustrated with vaccine rollout
  • Protecting the brain against bad news
Show more News

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions

Copyright 2021, Joule Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of the resources on this site in an accessible format, please contact us at cmajgroup@cmaj.ca.

Powered by HighWire