November 22, 2013   |   Volume 17 Issue 45 AHS accused of plan to cut RN positions

Alberta Health Services wants to cut 177 nursing jobs in the province, the NDP claims. It released an AHS internal report that says the optimal number of registered nursing positions in major hospitals is fewer than it is now.

November 22, 2013   |   Volume 17 Issue 45

B.C. releases action plan for complex needs patients

British Columbia has released an action plan for patients with the most complex form of Severe Addiction and/or Mental Illness (SAMI) who present a greater risk to themselves and others.

November 22, 2013   |   Volume 17 Issue 45 Assurance autonomie hearings wrap up

Three weeks of legislative hearings concluded Wednesday on the Quebec government’s White Paper on assurance autonomie — a new approach to delivering and funding continuing care.

Auditor General Michel Samson said a full assessment of patient needs is required — who will be covered, with which services, and to what extent.

Brockville Recorder and Times Fri Nov 22 2013

The local health unit is requesting a two per cent funding increase from the provincial government as it approves its 2014 programs budget, which is facing a shortfall.

And a new Ontario Nurses' Association contract negotiation and a current pay equity process for Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members could affect the budget for next year.

The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton) Thu Nov 21 2013

Fredericton's first palliative care hospice was approved by the city's planning advisory committee on Wednesday night. The $2.5-million project will be located on a downtown property that runs from the north side of Churchill Row to the south side of Charlotte Street just east of Regent Street. Daryl Branscombe, president of Hospice Fredericton, said he hopes construction on the project will start in the spring of 2014.

Montreal Gazette Thu Nov 21 2013

It is good to see that the Montreal Health and Social Services Agency has for the time being pulled back at least temporarily from its plan to fine hospitals that do not vacate beds occupied by ailing seniors who could be otherwise accommodated. The agency had threatened to start applying the fines as of this week. Hospitals would have been charged $984 for every day that a patient declared medically stable continued to occupy a bed in a ward or emergency room of an acute-care hospital.

Toronto Star Thu Nov 21 2013

It's an experience all too familiar for thousands of Canadians - they rush to a hospital emergency department and then wait . . . and wait . . . and wait for care. This isn't merely an inconvenience. A new position paper from the country's emergency doctors warns that delays in treatment, due to crowding, increase patients' risk of death and also the odds of a second emergency department visit within a week. "It constitutes a public health crisis," warns the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. As a first step toward lasting change the group is calling for comprehensive national data collection, to gauge the extent of the problem, and Canada-wide benchmarks for improvement.

Montreal Gazette Thu Nov 21 2013

While OurHealthSystem. ca, developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, displays a great deal of information about health care in different parts of Canada, it neglects to include one major aspect of medicine: dental care.

This isn't surprising because dental care, being almost totally in the private sphere, is almost always excluded from public discourse about medical care in Canada. It's as though our much-needed public discussion about the difficulty of low-income people getting access to expensive dental care has itself been privatized.

Newsletter November 19, 2013

A tentative five-year deal reached by the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association with health employers does not establish a pattern for other negotiations in the sector, says the Hospital Employees’ Union.  The HSPBA agreement announced last week addresses unique concerns including unresolved issues from previous rounds of bargaining for this group of health care workers.  The HSPBA is a multi-union bargaining group led by the Health Sciences Association and includes the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, the Professional Employees’ Association, and HEU. 

Superbug infections threaten 20th century's wonder drugs CBC News Posted: Nov 19, 2013

Excess and inappropriate use of antibiotics needs to be curbed because antibiotic resistant infections are increasing "at an alarming pace," public health experts say.

To mark global Antibiotic Awareness Week, The Lancet Infectious Diseases published an editorial and six commentaries by medical experts highlighting common themes in Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Five policy questions Justin Trudeau needs to answer Add to ... MAUDE BARLOW Special to The Globe and Mail Published Tuesday, Nov. 19 2013, 9:

Health CareThe Harper government has announced that it will remove $36-billion from medicare, cutting the annual funding increase in half and significantly reducing the federal share of health spending. Cash-strapped provincial governments will then have no choice but to privatize health services.The vast majority of Canadians oppose private health care. Will Justin Trudeau commit to a full funding partnership with the provinces and enforce the provisions of the Canada Health Act to maintain our public health care system?

Montreal Gazette Wed Nov 20 2013

Montreal's health agency is expanding its controversial crackdown to expedite seniors from hospitals to include bed-blocking in rehabilitation centres, but is delaying the heavy sanctions for not transferring seniors quickly enough.

Toronto Star Wed Nov 20 2013

The provincial coroner's office is coming under fire for cutting down on death investigations in long-term care homes. "I think it is a very bad idea. This is very short-sighted," said Jane Meadus a lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly.

The Chronicle-Herald Wed Nov 20 2013

Academics point to the same European countries as role models for other regions, with Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands regularly topping their lists as the best places in the world to grow old.

Denmark and Sweden pay for virtually all home care and nursing homes through municipal taxes and government grants. Their citizens are the highest-taxed in the European Union, euobserver.com reported in April, but their residents know the state will care for them from cradle to grave.

The Telegram (St. John's) Wed Nov 20 2013

The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) is endorsing a national position paper on emergency room overcrowding.

The Telegram (St. John's) Wed Nov 20 2013

Brian Sinclair died waiting in a Winnipeg hospital's emergency room in 2008 after spending 34 hours without seeing a doctor. A double amputee, he had a bladder infection caused by a blocked catheter that could have been cured by antibiotics.

CAEP came out swinging this week, decrying overcrowded emergency rooms in Canadian hospitals as a public-health emergency.