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Health-care funding gain draws fire - 0 views

www.edmontonjournal.com/story_print.html innovation cof
shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • The review - with a tight, six-month timeline - will examine fundamental issues surrounding medicare, such as how much to pay the health system's workers, who should treat patients, and what kinds of treatments should occur.
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Premiers take on health care, sans Ottawa - 0 views

www.vancouversun.com/...story.html private clinics innovation cof cht wall
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  • On innovation, Wall said his group will look at issues ranging from labour costs to the way patients are treated.Pointing to the success of adding private clinics into Saskatchewan's publicly delivered surgical system, Wall signalled that innovation is likely to mean a different approach to how services are delivered."Even though we're using private clinics, nobody has spontaneously combusted, no one burst into flames; we've actually delivered more surgeries more quickly in the public system," he said. "I think given a choice between ideology and surgery, people in pain will pick surgery."
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Premiers unveil go-it-alone health-care plan - 0 views

www.timescolonist.com/...story.html innovation private clinics cof wall
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  • Ghiz and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall will cochair the working group on health care innovation. It is tasked with looking at how provinces are already innovating in medicare, and attempting to clone ideas for other provinces to save money and improve patient care.
  • Wall pointed to an example in Saskatchewan, which has reduced surgical wait times by as much as 83 per cent by booking procedures in private clinics, covered by the public health-care system. He acknowledged the controversy of private clinics, but said: "Given a choice between ideology and surgery, people in pain will pick surgery."
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Health Care in Canada: A Focus on Seniors and Aging - 0 views

secure.cihi.ca/...productFamily.htm sustainability demographics seniors spending
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  • This report examines the impact of a growing seniors population on the health care system and considers ways in which the system may need to adapt in the future.
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PM yanks ball from Wall again - 0 views

www.thestarphoenix.com/...story.html innovation cof wall
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  • innovation in health care - including private delivery under public funding - is something worth pursuing
  • Wall and Prince Edward Island's Robert Ghiz would co-chair a Health Care Innovation Working Group that will work collaboratively on health-care delivery, with specific emphasis on "the needs of seniors, patients with chronic diseases and Northern populations."
  • Wall said Friday that ensuring health-care spending did not outpace economic growth was one of the many new goals that should be part of a health innovation agenda.
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  • Wall also called for performing all surgeries within three months (a goal Saskatchewan is on track to achieve partly due to private medical clinics), connecting all people to a health-care team that includes a family physician, ensuring that all patients have access to a specialist and diagnoses within one week, and no waits for anyone in emergency rooms.
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Wall upset by PM's stance - 0 views

www.leaderpost.com/...story.html cof innovation sk
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  • Wall and Prince Edward Island Premier Robert Ghiz have been named co-chairs of a health care innovation working group that will report in July on possible improvements that can be made in the system. One of the areas of focus will be an examination of existing clinical guidelines.
  • "Every province in the country probably would have a very similar list of high volume procedures. Are they all needed? Are people getting procedures that are arguably not the best standard of care, clinical care, not purposefully but just as part of the system and what it's grown into be?" Wall said."The converse is true. Are there certain things the health care system is not delivering that would be a standard of care, that might be preventative, that might prolong good health?"
  • Wall said Saskatchewan also plans to move on several goals laid out by the provincial government in a news release issued last week
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  • Details and timelines will be laid out "soon," he said.
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Premiers craft own health agenda, hoping Ottawa joins later - Yahoo! News - 0 views

ca.news.yahoo.com/ck-health-talks-090012882.html transfers innovation cof
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  • 95 per cent of all federal transfer funding arrangements expire in 2014, and that includes the health transfer.
  • Equalization funding and infrastructure and training funding agreements also expire in 2014
  • Wall, who came to Victoria extolling health innovation as a best practice and money-saver, said the newly-formed Health Care Innovation Working Group will focus on the provinces and territories finding and sharing new ways to meet health challenges, including the needs of seniors, patients with chronic diseases and northern populations.
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  • He joked that he and Ghiz won't employ a good-cop-bad-cop routine
  • The working group will focus on saving dollars while providing the best and most up-to-date health services to Canadians.
  • "We're going to do our work," said Wall. "The federal government is not needed for this work. They don't deliver health care. The expertise is in the provinces and the territories."
  • Wall told reporters in Saskatchewan following the meetings he was disappointed that Ottawa hasn't backed health innovation with federal dollars.He said federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq expressed support for an innovation fund, but that appears to have dried up.
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Premiers join forces on health innovation group - Saskatchewan - CBC News - 0 views

www.cbc.ca/...l-premiers-health-tuesday.html innovation cof
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  • Prince Edward Island Premier Robert Ghiz and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall will co-chair the group, whose members will include health ministers from the provinces and territories.
  • The innovation group will work in consultation with health-care providers and will cover three key areas: scope of practice of health-care workers, human resources and clinical practice guidelines. It will provide its first report at a meeting of premiers and territorial leaders in July in Halifax.
  • The working group plans to work in close consultation with frontline health workers and the organizations that represent them.
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Long-term care quality improves in province - 0 views

www.calgaryherald.com/...story.html complaints privatization staffing alberta ltc
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  • Health Quality Council of Alberta
  • Of the nearly 12,000 survey packages sent out a year ago to family members of residents living in the province's 157 nursing homes, 70 per cent were completed and returned.
  • publicly operated nursing homes obtained significantly higher ratings compared to those run for a profit or on a voluntary basis.
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  • Staffing levels were what influenced the ratings most, with a significant minority of families complaining there was no one available to help the resident eat or go to the toilet.
  • 38 per cent gave the meals a failing grade of six or less.
  • Ruth Adria, executive director of the Elder Advocates Society of Alberta, said the survey's most significant finding was that one-third of those who were unhappy with the care didn't complain to the facility because they were afraid the resident would face retribution from staff.
  • Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12
     
    http://www.hqca.ca From the report summary: "Does facility ownership make a difference to overall care ratings? The survey found that on average, publicly operated facilities obtained significantly higher overall care ratings compared to private and voluntary (not-for-profit or faith-based) operated facilities (public 8.4 out of 10; voluntary 8.1 out of 10; private 8.0 out of 10)." "The survey found that what most influenced families' overall care ratings were: - staffing levels. - care of resident's belongings. - assistance with daily living activities such as toileting, drinking and eating. From this perspective, we suggest improvement efforts should focus on: - Improving the number and availability of long term care staff. - Ensuring the care and security of residents' personal belongings. - Creating environments and staff relationships similar to those found in smaller nursing homes."
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Staff fired after New Brunswick government finds cases of abuse at care homes - 0 views

www.globaltoronto.com/...story.html violence abuse ltc nb
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  • Eleven care home workers in New Brunswick have been fired or left their jobs over the past two years after various violations
  • 40 of the roughly 2,200 complaints filed over the past two years with the province's Social Development department resulted in findings of abuse
  • the province is working on a way to include the provincial ombudsman in investigations of abuse in long-term care facilities, as well as creating a seniors' charter of rights.
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  • Thirteen were cases of neglect or abuse of residents by owners or staff, and 27 were cases of residents abusing other residents, which in most instances involved unwanted sexual contact.
  • one reason for resident-on-resident abuse is the rising number of residents with advanced frontal-lobe dementia, which can result in aggressive outbursts.
  • "We have higher proportions of folk who present with varying degrees of dementia and Alzheimer's issues, so the job is not easy," McGeorge said.
  • Stultz said the department developed an abuse protection program in 2009 that includes a half-day course for special care home employees. It includes information on how to report abuse, what abuse is, and how to avoid it
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Sexual abuse in New Brunswick seniors home sign of neglected problem: experts - Winnipe... - 0 views

www.winnipegfreepress.com/...roblem-experts--137743108.html abuse staffing ltc nb
shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Mazerolle said the incidents involved the four men with varying degrees of Alzheimer's, two of them in wheelchairs, inappropriately touching or fondling other residents
  • Mazerolle said after meeting with officials from the province, the home ordered wheelchairs with locks to prevent the men moving from their rooms. A locked half-door was also added to one man's room, which restricted his movement. There was also temporary provincial funding that allowed for an additional 14 hours a day of staffing, he said.
  • Jane Meadus, a spokeswoman for the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly in Toronto, viewed the records on Villa Maria and spoke generally about more staff being needed in care homes. "It's a big problem and I think it's going to get bigger and a lot of it requires more eyes on the floor," she said.
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  • cases of sexual abuse went up in New Brunswick between 2008-09 and 2010-11, from 12 to 21 cases
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The provinces got what they asked for on health funding - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2306965 equalization
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  • Alberta is suggesting that the funding shortcomings of provinces such as Quebec and Ontario be addressed through the back door using the federal equalization fund. I’m not sure how that helps provinces such as Saskatchewan and B.C., which also lose under the new funding formula but don’t receive equalization payments.
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Health minister seeks co-operation - 0 views

www.montrealgazette.com/...story.html federal accord accountability innovation
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  • Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq sent a letter Thursday to her provincial and territorial colleagues reminding them "Canadians are best served when we work together,"
  • "I would be pleased to continue to engage in intergovernmental discussions and actions with respect to innovation, improved accountability and other areas that will enable better, more sustainable health care," Aglukkaq wrote in the letter to provincial and territorial health ministers.
  • "We could also pursue a coordinated approach to measuring and reporting performance across jurisdictions
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Out-of-control salaries the stuff of nightmares for health ministers - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2308782 wages innovation spending cof
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  • Such whip-sawing by health-care workers is an old story. As the reality of the new Canada Health Transfers sinks in – a redistribution announced by Ottawa last month that cuts the rate of growth over the coming decade – the provinces are suddenly keen to craft a strategy to curb the interprovincial competition for health-care workers.
  • Labour costs are the single biggest factor in health-care budgets. In B.C. they make up 62 per cent of the $12.6-billion annual budget. In Nova Scotia, they make up 70 per cent of the health budget.
  • This week, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Prince Edward Island Premier Robert Ghiz agreed to take a stab at the health human-resources challenge as part of their countrywide innovation working group.
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  • don’t be misled by the “innovation” label – there is a heavy focus on labour costs
  • they are kicking around the idea of a Canadian fee structure for services, which would take aim at doctors
  • The cost of paying physicians has been among the fastest-growing health categories in Canada in recent years
  • Between 1998 and 2008, their pay has been increasing at an annual rate of 6.8 per cent each year.
  • Robert Evans, an economics professor at the University of B.C.’s Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, is skeptical about the ability of the provinces to tackle the problem so long as the Harper government refuses to get involved. “What you need to do is develop interprovincial agreements about how much you are going to pay - it has to be binding, with financial teeth.”
  • “They can try that all they want, it’s not going to work,” vowed Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union. “There will be labour unrest from one end of the country to the other.”
  • Here’s the current per-capita health-care spending across the provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador: $5,077 Alberta: $4,528 Saskatchewan: $4,348 Manitoba: $4,266 PEI: $4,058 New Brunswick: $4,033 Nova Scotia: $3,972 Ontario: $3,645 B.C.: $3,604 Quebec: $3,407
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The politics of Harper's medicare decision - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2308425 neoliberalism cht
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  • When Stephen Harper was campaigning for the first time, he proposed a Patient Wait Times Guarantee linked to federal money.
  • It’ll be the first time since medicare began that a federal government has handed money over carte blanche.
  • The anticipated drop in indexing from 6 per cent to 4 per cent or 5 per cent thereafter won’t figure in the next election, since the decline is hardly momentous.
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Health budget math doesn't add up - thestar.com - 0 views

www.thestar.com/...lth-budget-math-doesn-t-add-up sustainability ontario
shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • health expenditures, which account for 42 per cent of program spending today, consumed 46 per cent of Ontario’s operating budget a decade ago.
  • This doesn’t look like a crisis.
  • None of this means Ontarians should ignore warnings about health expenditures. In dollar terms, they are growing faster than the provincial economy, faster than government revenues and faster than inflation. But these trends warrant prudence, not panic.
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Untreated insomnia risks other health woes - Health - CBC News - 0 views

www.cbc.ca/...insomnia-health.html insomnia
shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • People with insomnia
  • more than double the risk of developing congestive heart failure and diabetes
  • some of the most commonly prescribed drugs such as antidepressants and antihistamines have yet to be approved for treating insomnia, and there's little evidence about which drugs work best
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