Eye on health

May 27

There are many pressing issues in the upcoming election but few will require the attention from the politicians than health care will demand. It will be the issue that free trade was in the late '80s and it is critical that we closely analyze each party platform. The system is on life support.

There have already been the promises to restore funding. Since the mid-eighties, funding for health at the federal level has fallen when compared with the overall costs. When medicare was introduced, the federal government covered about half of the cost but now it doesn't even meet Roy Romanow's target of 25 per cent. I have been close to the health care field all my life, watching my mother work as a nurse at a rural Cape Breton hospital, working at large- and medium-sized hospitals in Nova Scotia in all types of settings from burn units to neuro-intensive care units and orthopedic clinics. I also spent some time working in the United States.

If one of the objectives is "never for profit" then each party has the duty to explain how they plan to protect that goal. I've witnessed two-tiered care firsthand, performed by very well-meaning individuals. It was a jolting experience. On the other hand I have witnessed health-care gridlock, feisty debates over operating room time and delayed diagnostics and specialist appointments and clinics running well over schedule to deal with the traffic. Physicians, nurses, and health care worker's are exhausted. Specialist's want to practice 2004 medicine which requires reasonable access to surgery and other procedures to give the best possible success.

A sizable part of Canada's seniors require institutional care or some form of home care and in 15 years the number of seniors will double and, God willing, I'll be one of them. This issue is critical and must be addressed with compassion and dignity immediately. Home care is a preferable approach, not only for seniors, but for family members who have become hostage to situations and illnesses that require 24 hour monitoring. Rural areas, with declining family members to participate , are particularly vulnerable.

Address the rapid introduction of nurse practitioners into the system. Nurses are still the most respected health professionals because of their connection to those the system is designed to serve. No one sees and deals with the deficiencies more then they do. They are capable of resolving many problems and putting the team approach on cruise control. Let them loose.

Pharmacare. I wish I had a dollar each time a physician was forced to ask a patient if he or she has "coverage" I always expect Tommy Douglas to rise from the grave when I hear that. Patents, research and reasonable profit all have to be addressed because people and provinces simply cannot cope with the costs of this essential service.

To date all I have heard is figures. Showing us the money is not good enough, but unless we ask, no, demand answers to the tough questions we will get little more. This is the major universal issue in the Canadian election. We've got time for the details.