Premiers have abandoned discussions on our public health care system, nurses say
Health professionals’ think tank prescribes leadership to Council of Federation on health issues
Friday, July 18, 2008 - (Québec City) - Where are the Premiers and the Council of Federation on the most acute issues facing our Canadian public health care system? Issues like: skills shortages, staff retention, working conditions and workforce renewal have been forgotten. The effects of creeping privatization and the impacts of the rising costs of prescription drugs are being ignored. This question is being asked by Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), and Lina Bonamie, president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), who together represent 215,000 health professionals from coast to coast. The question follows the release of a document titled "Achieving Our Health Care Vision: Key Considerations for Premiers," summarizing a one-day think tank held in Québec City on the eve of the Premiers’ meeting. Focussing on the most pressing issues facing our public health care system, the think tank gathered some seventy-five health professionals, experts, academics, administrators and executives of various professional organizations in the health care field.
“The people that make the system work, for Canadians who need it, feel let down by our Premiers’ silence on the real issues,” says Linda Silas, president of the CFNU. “For instance, right now all we get from the Premiers is silence on human resources shortages in health care. Each day of silence on these issues is a betrayal of Canadians’ pride in their health care system.”
“Sustaining the public health care system and the people’s confidence in that system is a central item in the Premiers’ job descriptions,” says FIQ president Lina Bonamie. “The Premiers are irresponsible to run away from this important duty.” The “Key Considerations for Premiers” are that:
• Privatization and P3s are not the way to go;
• Issues of retention and renewal of Canada’s health care workforce have reached crisis levels in many parts of the country and need to be addressed through a concerted, pan-Canadian approach that involves all governments and includes:
o Creating funds – with a return in service component – to cover the education costs of badly needed health professionals,
o Revamping the apprenticeship program under Employment Insurance to include health care professionals and enable them to maintain and upgrade their skills,
o Creating a culture of safety through Healthy Workplace Initiative;
• A national pharmacare program is key to keeping health care costs manageable. Provinces need to work together and with the federal government to realize this end; and
• Canadians expect wise, prudent and cautious spending of public funds. Greater transparency and informed public debate are needed about how our health care dollars are spent.
The CFNU and FIQ leaders both stressed that “there is urgency to these issues that no single province can usefully tackle alone. The Premiers forgot that they created the Council of the Federation to work together on these very issues. And that is sad.” The complete document “Achieving Our Health Care Vision: Key Considerations for Premiers” is posted here and at www.fiqsante.qc.ca. The CFNU represents over 158,000 members and associate members in nine provinces. The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec represents 57,000 nursing and cardiorespiratory care professionals in Quebec. Together, the CFNU and FIQ represent over 215,000 health care professionals.
Contacts: CFNU - Linda Silas 613-526-4661, FIQ - Sara Lapointe 418-953-2291.