The sacred cow that kills

Florence Nightingale would weep. At least in the UK, there are private insurance options (not cash from one's pocket, as is the case in Ottawa should one choose to get an MRI across the river in Gatineau).

Yet this is the situation in Ontario. No logical explanation as to why private clinics are able to do government-funded X-rays, blood tests, PSA tests, etc.--but nothing more, including MRIs, is to be permitted.

One really wonders why the Liberals and NDP do not demand that all medical equipment (such as MRI machines) and instruments (scalpels) and other materials for the system (toilet paper in hospitals, whatever) be bought from non-profit making entities (logically owned by the Government of Ontario). After all, the profit motive is such an evil thing.

There is no rational consistency in their positions. And why did the Progressive (aaarrgh!) Conservatives insist that all "medically necessary" treatments be paid for by the government even if privately provided?

And do remember that the Liberal government in its last term eliminated physiotherapy and eye examinations from the category of "medically necessary" things that the government would pay for. Plus dental care (ever had a really bad toothache?) has never been covered by the government. Nor drugs, if one is not a "senior". Nor much of the quite substantial (we're talking in the low thousands) cost of artificial limbs.

The current system in my province is truly mad. Yet ideology prevents politicians from facing reality and ignorance rules the populace. Moreover, unlike in the UK, intelligent (if polemical) public discourse on the subject is virtually absent. Faith in non-existent "one-tier" health care will be the death of far too many people.

Good grief.

Mark C.

Update: Good griefer:

Wait times for surgery in Canada at all-time high: study

Then there's this:

The time that paramedics spend waiting to hand over patients at Ottawa hospitals continues to get longer, mirroring trends across Canada, despite recent efforts to unplug the bottlenecks that keep ambulances off the road.

Emergency crews in the first half of 2007 waited an average of 57 minutes and 38 seconds to return to service after arriving at a hospital, according to a report being tabled this week at the community and protective services.

[...]

...the Ontario government began funding a pilot project earlier this year at The Ottawa Hospital's Civic and General campuses to alleviate paramedic bottlenecks. Emergency room space is reserved for ambulance patients and extra nurses are on staff to look after those patients.

However, the report states the program "is not proving effective as hospitals still struggle with capacity within their own organization. ... Although solutions to the current hospital wait time is the sole responsibility of the hospital administration, it remains a contributory factor in paramedic availability and therefore negatively impacts service response time."..

Our politicians have no effective policies. Perhaps prayer has a place.

Posted by markc at October 14, 2007 04:40 PM