Worldwide shortages of doctors a 'perfect storm' for Canada

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-- Worldwide shortages of doctors a 'perfect storm' for Canada

Posted by girllovingtvibe on Nov-24-2004 21:56:

Worldwide shortages of doctors a 'perfect storm' for Canada

I don't how anybody else feels. Here in Canada our problem of good doctors leaving is nothing short of failure on our governments part. I have had not a perm. doctor in years due to the fact that mine keep moving to the U.S. I know this because I ask them I can't seem to nail down a family doctor to stay in practice here.

Erin Henderson
Canadian Press

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Dr. Albert Schumacher, President of the Canadian Medical Association. (CP handout photo /Canadian Medical Association)

TORONTO (CP) - A shortage of homegrown physicians, combined with the aggressive recruitment of Canadian doctors by other countries, is a "perfect storm" that threatens Canada's health-care reforms, the president of the Canadian Medical Association said Wednesday.

Dr. Albert Schumacher said doctors in Canada who face 80-hour work weeks and ever-greater numbers of patients are either drastically reducing their patient loads or closing up shop and leaving to work in other countries.

Part of the solution is more money for doctor training to ensure medical schools are producing more doctors, Schumacher told a breakfast audience at the Toronto Board of Trade.

"Increasing the number of medical students trained in Canada is an important step towards self-sufficiency in terms of the physician resources we need to meet the needs of our patients," he said.

A recent survey conducted in part by the association found 60 per cent of family doctors have either closed their practices or are limiting the number of new patients they see, he added.

As many as 3,800 doctors are expected to retire in the next two years and 15,000 more plan to reduce their working hours.

Schumacher said medical students also need help to deal with the crushing debt they end up facing, in some cases as much as $120,000. Students are usually still in training when they're forced to start paying back student loans.

He urged Ottawa to invest more money in post-graduate residency programs to allow them to expand their capacity and handle more would-be doctors.

Increase the system's capacity by "several hundred" doctors by next July and the doctor shortage would begin to abate within three years, he added.

Health professionals are frustrated by having to scramble to secure the treatment they require, said Schumacher, whose own practice is based in Windsor, Ont., near Detroit.

He said many Canadian patients are opting to pay for treatment in the U.S.

"More of my patients are going across the border . . .for simple diagnostic tests - CAT scans, MRIs and so forth - at a rate that they didn't used to go across, and that is increasing."

Ottawa and the provinces inked a deal in September for $41-billion in increased health care funding over 10 years. But Schumacher warned there's still plenty of work to do, including establishing benchmarks for wait times.

� The Canadian Press 2004

http://www.canada.com/health/story....c9-e59dded944a5

Posted by girllovingtvibe on Nov-24-2004 22:03:

perhaps our system could use a little change and observation by a non-government agency. the money saved could go back to paying our doctors more:

Millions wasted

AG cites prescription abuse
By STEPHANIE RUBEC, Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA -- The federal government is shelling out millions of dollars too much for prescription medication and failing to crack down on drug abusers, says Canada's auditor general. AG Sheila Fraser said since her 2000 audit, the number of clients who get more than 50 prescriptions in a three-month timeframe has tripled, and veterans are the worst offenders.

Fraser said she's found no move at Health Canada, the RCMP, Veterans Affairs, the Defence Department and Corrections Canada to crack down on prescription abuse.

Fraser laid the blame on Health Canada for failing to take action and urged MPs to take the department to task.

"What does it take to get a department to act on such a serious issue?" Fraser asked yesterday in a press conference. "It has now been seven years since we have been reporting on this. It is really unacceptable that more action has not been taken on this file."

The feds spending on medication for a million Canadians has risen by 25% over the past two years, to $438-million.

The report slammed the feds for failing to buy prescriptions in bulk to save money. According to auditors, the government could save $15 million by buying the most popular 20 drugs in bulk.

'COULD BE SAVING TENS OF MILLIONS'

Auditors found that for ulcer drugs alone, the feds shelled out over $17 million instead of $4 million.

"We think that the government could be saving tens of millions of dollars," Fraser said.

Fraser said the Canadian Forces is failing to keep $2.6-billion in upgrades of Canada's aging fighter jet fleet on schedule.

The AG blamed staffing shortfalls, red tape and budget cuts for the delays that will shorten the life of the 20-year-old CF-18s.

That has set the high-tech training system for pilots set to fly the retrofitted jets two years behind schedule, which means one squadron of fighter pilots is using the new and complex systems without simulation training.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Winni.../pf-727949.html