Sudbury hospital annual meeting highlights success, challenges
Northern Ontario Watch
Some of the highlights from the Health Sciences North annual hospital meeting are the hiring of 900 new staff and 32 physicians.
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National Post
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Liberals show no signs of limiting MAID despite 'extremely concerned' UN report
OTTAWA — Ottawa is giving no sign that it intends to amend existing legislation on medical assistance in dying — something a UN committee called for earlier this spring. Article content The federal minister responsible for disabilities spoke at a hearing of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last week, about two months after the committee called on Canada to repeal the 2021 law that expanded eligibility for assisted dying to those whose deaths were not reasonably foreseeable. Article content Article content Article content Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu gave a speech at the UN last Tuesday to mark 15 years since Canada ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Article content Article content 'It's about, for me, making relationships in this space and making sure that I have a really strong connection with the community, which I think is really important to be a good minister,' she said in an interview after the speech. The report said the committee is 'extremely concerned' about Canada's policy on track 2 medical assistance in dying. Article content '(T)he concept of 'choice' creates a false dichotomy, setting up the premise that if persons with disabilities are suffering, it is valid for (Canada) to enable their death without providing safeguards that guarantee the provision of support,' the report said. Article content In a written statement, a spokesperson for Hajdu said the government thanks the committee for its report. Article content Article content 'MAID is a deeply personal choice. We will make sure that the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld and protected,' said Jennifer Kozelj. Article content Article content Disability rights groups in Canada have argued the law singles out people with disabilities who are suffering because they're unable to access proper support. Article content Last September, Inclusion Canada was among a group of organizations that filed a Charter of Rights challenge against what's known as track 2 MAID. Article content 'It was crystal clear — the United Nations said they need to repeal track 2 medical assistance in dying,' she said. Article content Garnett Genuis, the Conservative employment critic, said he came away from the UN event worried about Canada's international reputation being harmed by what he called Ottawa's 'failures to uphold our obligations to protect the rights of people with living with disabilities.'
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Health P.E.I. not imposing a minimum number of patients on family doctors, says CEO
'We're not asking the physicians to take on a larger panel than they've ever had' A gap is developing between what Health P.E.I. says and what the Medical Society of P.E.I. insists is the case when it comes to the patient roster benchmarks the province is asking family doctors to meet. Earlier this month, the society announced it planned to sue the health agency for breach of contract over proposed targets saying a full-time family physician should have 1,600 people on the roster and see 24 patients a day. The medical society said at the time that the proposed "minimum" workloads for doctors would lead to burnout and drive physicians from the province. But on Thursday, Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser told CBC News those targets are "maximums," and said they would be scaled back if doctors perform other duties — like emergency room work and other hospital shifts. There would also be different expectations for doctors who practice on their own versus those who work in a team-based patient medical home, Fraser said. "We're not asking the physicians to take on a larger panel than they've ever had — 1,600 was the maximum benchmark, it remains the maximum benchmark," she said in an interview. "At the same time, we do need to have some measure to understand how many patients [we can] affiliate to a particular physician." Last August, the government, Health P.E.I. and the medical society together announced a new physician services agreement. It saw the Island become the first province in Canada to recognize family medicine as a specialty and promised a 35 per cent boost to doctors' pay over the next five years. New agreement for P.E.I. doctors expected to boost recruitment and retention But then last month, Health P.E.I. introduced a draft version of its new operational guide, which included a requirement that each family doctor see two dozen patients a day, based on an average appointment being 15 minutes long. The guide also said each full-time family doctor's practice should have a panel of 1,600 patients, with penalties imposed if that target isn't met. We do value our doctors, we do want to retain all the physicians that we have…. I'm confident that we can get through these concerns. — Melanie Fraser, Health P.E.I. CEO The draft guide clearly states that the targets were minimum standards. "Physicians will be expected to maintain a minimum panel size as described within the Family Physician Panel Policy," says a section on page 24 of the guide. "The resulting FTE [full-time equivalent] is then used to calculate a physician's assigned panel benchmark, based on a reference point of 1,600 patients per 1.0 FTE." 'That is not possible to do' Fraser's language on Thursday told a different story. She said a 1,600-patient panel has been the maximum since 2016; it hasn't changed since then; and Health P.E.I. is not intending to change it. Family doctors who spoke to CBC News over the past week seemed to be of the understanding that they would have to meet the benchmarks as minimums, however. "This is not possible to do, what they're asking," Summerside family physician Dr. David Antle said in a June 15 interview. "People, including me, are already teetering on burnout and this will send us over the edge." Antle said he has 900 patients on his roster and sees about 20 of them each day when working at the Summerside Medical Centre. That's in addition to emergency room shifts, and the time it takes to review patient test results and consult with other doctors about care. "If this goes through — and it's going to be forced upon us with threats of potential punishment if you don't meet it — I can't provide the care that's needed for the patients I have. Full-stop," he said. "There's no way I can do it and there's no way my colleagues can do it." Fraser acknowledged Thursday that the talks between Health P.E.I. and doctors have broken down, but said she's confident negotiations on operating guide will be resolved. WATCH | Why some family doctors believe new Health P.E.I. targets will drive physicians away: Media Video | Why some family doctors believe new Health P.E.I. targets will drive physicians away Caption: Family doctors on P.E.I. are worried about physician burnout and the quality of care they can provide. Health P.E.I. is proposing doctors should have at least 1,600 patients, and see 24 of them every day. Two family doctors, including Dr. Jeannette Verleun, weigh in about their fears and how they think the changes might impact Islanders. CBC's Connor Lamont reports. Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. The consultation process is scheduled to continue into July. "We're really hoping to have the input and feedback brought back to the process so that we can consider it and move forward," Fraser said. "We do value our doctors, we do want to retain all the physicians that we have, all the staff that we have…. I'm confident that we can get through these concerns, through the process that we have." The CEO also noted that three more family doctors have been hired for P.E.I. in the last three weeks, but wouldn't say where in the province they are expected to work.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
A Canadian first at The Royal
The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre unveils a new brain imaging platform. CTV's Kimberley Fowler says it could help understand mental illness, addiction.
