Health care system

As far as the level of care goes, the answer seems to be no. On a personal level, for the patient receiving care, there’s little difference between the public and the private systems. The orthopedic surgeon who provided me with an artificial hip in an operation that lasted an hour and left only a five-inch scar as evidence would—i am sure—have done just as good a job if I’d been one of his hospital patients rather than one of his clinic patients.

Since my surgery, I have fallen back into the public system. The nurse who removed my bandage and staples two weeks after my operation did so at the local CLSC. She was as kind and attentive as the nurses at the clinic. The day after my operation I was seen by the clinic’s physiotherapist. Then, three weeks later, I met with a physiotherapist at the CLSC. In both cases, they were caring, competent, and helpful.

The care a patient gets in the public system is as good as that which is provided by private clinics. As one of the in-laws put it, “Once you get into the system, you’re well looked after.”

The difference between public and private is a difference in efficiency, in the time it takes a patient to be seen by a nurse, a doctor, or a specialist.

This begs the question: is our public health care system being eclipsed by private health care?

In both cases, they were caring, competent, and

helpful.

I had recourse to a private clinic, but I’m very

grateful that the public system is there for me now, as it has been almost all

my life.

More money in health care will help but only if changes to the system are driven by those working at the grass roots level and not directed from the top

No, at least not in my opinion. I had recourse to a private clinic, but I’m very grateful that the public system is there for me now, as it has been almost all my life. The people I’ve met in the public health care system impress me no less than those I’ve met in theprivate system. I’m immensely grateful to them.

Our governments spend a lot on health care. Should they spend more?

Possibly. But if a comparison to the education system (the other big budget item in government finances) is valid, more money alone won’t solve the problem.

When Quebec’s education reform was instituted several decades ago, the result was the great dumbing down accompanied by the creation of many more administrative posts.

More money in health care will help but only if changes to the system are driven by those working at the grass roots level and not directed from the top down.

Our Medicare system was once a shining beacon. If the aides, nurses, doctors, and specialists who work in the system are anything to go by, it can shine again.