Defend Public Healthcare

As two Liberals on the (presumed) left of the party declare their intention to run for the leadership, it bears recalling that almost all of the major problems the Liberals have faced in the last few years have come from attempts to re-position the party to the right. First, Premier McGuinty (and  departing Finance Minister Dwight Duncan) supported moves to privatize public services. This led to a series of failures and scandals that angered the public: Mississauga gas plant Overpaid private contractors at eHealth;  Scandalous, hidden extra costs at the Brampton "public private partnership" (P3) hospital;  Bloated salaries, highly dubious corporate payments, and limited public oversight enabled at ORNGE by privatization ;  and A massive corporate payout after the Liberals opened up energy production to for-profit corporations Indeed, the Globe reports that the corporation that won the  now infamous Mississauga gas plant project (cancelled at great expense durin

Private funding of health care is increasing faster than public funding.   Now the Canadian Institute for Health Information reports that public funding is expected to fall to 69.7% of total funding in 2012. Public funding has been much higher -- in 1976 it  provided 77% of all health care funding.  After a slow, multi-year decline, it had stabilized by 1996.  But it has now fallen three years in a row. Canadian public sector health care spending is expected to increase 2.9% in 2012 while private funding is expected to increase 4.6% (more than half again as fast). Public sector expenditure is the lowest of all provinces and territories in Ontario -- at 67.8% in 2011.  Ontario also saw the second lowest increase per capita  in public sector health care expenditures in 2011, with a 1% increase. The cross-Canada increase was 1.7%. Private funding of health care increases inequality as only those with the cash (or robust private insurance) will receive the full range health care s

Patients in Britain could see their health care services cut as a result of botched public private partnership (P3) hospitals.     The Public Accounts Committee of the British House of Commons has flagged special concern about the “unaffordable” P3 deals.    Public Accounts Chair Margaret Hall said, "We are particularly concerned that the financial viability of a number of trusts is being undermined by the fact that they are locked into unaffordable PFI (the British phrase for P3s) contracts.” She added that ministers were unable to provide MPs with reassurance that financial problems will not damage the quality of care or access .   “The Department of Health could not explain to us how it will deal with an NHS trust that goes bankrupt. Nor could it provide reassurance that financial problems would not damage the quality of care or equality of access to all citizens, wherever they live.” At least 22 health care trusts operating 60 hospitals are facing severe prob

Today, in the Ottawa Citizen , the Queensway Carleton Hospital reports a big decline in the number of  "ALC" patients, down  from 50 patients a day to 20 or 25.  That is a  50% to 60% decline. Queensway Carleton Hospital The story highlights the home first program (where seniors get intensive home care for up to two months) and a decision not to discuss LTC options with patients, or fill in LTC applications.    It sounds like a more important explanation of the ALC decline was the creation of 24 "restorative" beds at the hospital.    The patients in those beds are the same sort of patients who were formerly ALC (i.e. not requiring acute care but still not ready to go home).   With the creation of the restorative beds program t here are now  special programs  to help these patients become fit and active while they fully recover in hospital. With this program, these patients are no longer in acute care beds and are no longer waiting for another form or

The Minister of Health and LTC has finally (7  months into the year) gotten around to making an announcement about the increase to home care funding for this year, at least for the Hamilton Niagara Community Care Access Centre (CCACs fund home care providers). Aside from the long delay, the matter was kept in confusion this year  because the government choose to talk only about "community" services funding, rather than CCAC funding.  No one knew what they were talking about, exactly.  Which may have suited the government just fine. The government had talked about a 4% increase for community services -- whatever they are.  But with this announcement the Hamilton Niagara CCAC is only getting a 3.25% increase -- $8 million on a 2011-12 budget of $246 million . That falls short of what is needed to offset normal home care cost pressures (inflation, aging population, growing use of home care) much less deal with all the other things the government says it is going to do thro

Both of the key architects of the Liberal government's attack on free collective bargaining are as good as gone.  McGuinty will be gone January 26 and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has indicated he will likely be gone from the Finance Ministry right about the same time. The labour movement can take a big part of the credit for that.  The Liberal party  went into free fall in the polls  after the labour movement began to respond in kind to the attack on free collective bargaining in late August. Worse, the Libs got themselves into this despite getting a long string of broader public sector settlements with two years of zeroes through free collective bargaining and normal interest arbitration.  What was it all for? (True, municipal settlements have varied, but municipal circumstances also vary.   In any case, most municipal bargaining would not be affected by the Liberal proposals.) Sandra Pupatello So, the Liberal leadership candidates have to determine whether the

Quinte Health Care is simply stopping elective surgeries for a week to deal with funding shortfalls from the provincial government.   The hospital's CEO Mary Clare Egberts told The Intelligencer that the cuts weren't in keeping with QHC's new " patient-first " strategy but a lack of provincial funding leaves few options.   The Intelligencer adds that QHC will also reduce physiotherapy for outpatients at all four of its hospital sites effective November 1 and is looking for other ways to cut costs (e.g. reducing sick pay, overtime, and supplies). The nearby Perth & Smith Falls District Hospital is planning to cut 12  beds, along with a wide range of other services (e.g. housekeeping) to deal with its funding shortfall. Departments have been told to cut 6%. In Sudbury, there was no relief for Health Sciences North from its recent " peer review ".   With the loss of 30 beds earlier this year for non-acute ("ALC") patients, the