Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The health care system in Quebec is broken
The health care system in this province is broken. I can’t speak for the rest of the country, but in Quebec, those who have the financial means to bypass the public system do - and who can blame them? Most can’t, and they are left at the mercy of the system. It is not just the unacceptable wait times, it is the whole mentality of those running thungs that is flawed. Many people are literally being made to feel as if they are being done a favour by being seen by a doctor. There is something terribly wrong with a society where veterinarians are more accessible and compassionate than a high percentage of the people working within the “human” health care establishment.
If you never have to see a doctor, consider yourself lucky. In Quebec, finding a family doctor is excruciatingly difficult. The alternatives are to either head down to an emergency room, walk-in medical clinic or the bureaucratically-heavy CLSC. Whichever one you choose, be prepared to spend countless hours in a waiting room. Once you finally find yourself at the end of the line, you’ll be fortunate if the doctor has five minutes to spare.
The wait times for crucial procedures and tests is also unacceptable, and there is no doubt that people are getting sicker while they wait or even dying as a result. Which brings me to the two-tier system that already exists. People are now being presented with the option to go private for certain procedures or tests. For those who have insurance it may be a viable option, but for those who don’t and cannot afford it, they can do nothing but wait and wait, and wait.
What is the solution? More doctors of course. More money invested in health care? Of course. But the real problem is the way the system is set-up. Too much money is being wasted for things that have nothing to do with actual health care. Money for instance, that is being spent to keep an insanely large bureaucracy in business.
There are now two massive hospital projects being constructed. We hear all sorts of promises about how great they will be. We are being told that once these “super hospitals” open their doors, all will be wonderful. Is that even possible as long as the disconnected mentality of the government and those running the system remain the same?
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| What the MUHC Superhospital will look like |
The wait times for crucial procedures and tests is also unacceptable, and there is no doubt that people are getting sicker while they wait or even dying as a result. Which brings me to the two-tier system that already exists. People are now being presented with the option to go private for certain procedures or tests. For those who have insurance it may be a viable option, but for those who don’t and cannot afford it, they can do nothing but wait and wait, and wait.
What is the solution? More doctors of course. More money invested in health care? Of course. But the real problem is the way the system is set-up. Too much money is being wasted for things that have nothing to do with actual health care. Money for instance, that is being spent to keep an insanely large bureaucracy in business.
There are now two massive hospital projects being constructed. We hear all sorts of promises about how great they will be. We are being told that once these “super hospitals” open their doors, all will be wonderful. Is that even possible as long as the disconnected mentality of the government and those running the system remain the same?
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