To reform or not to reform?

In week three of this course there was much discussion of the Canadian healthcare system and much debate over whether it is effective or not. I personally do not have much experiences with the Canadian healthcare system (besides just going to my family doctor if I have the flue) so I couldn’t really relate to what was being discussed in class and seminar. From the very little experience I do have with the Canadian healthcare system (going to my family doctor) I have to say I feel like the service is poor. I always thought it was just my family doctor that doesn’t provide good service (I hope she doesn’t read this) but from reading Romanow’s article and hearing what my classmates had to say about healthcare services I feel like most Canadians are facing this problem of poor services and not just me (so maybe it’s not my family doctors fault).

 So whose fault is it? Is it the Canadian government’s fault which does not provide training for doctors regarding proper communication with patients? Or is it the doctors fault themselves who are too busy to want to talk to their patients? I’m not trying to blame anyone here but I think it is important to answer this question before discussing healthcare reform. If the Canadian government does start to change its current approach to healthcare services will the “new and improved” approach truly be effective? If for example training regarding communication skills are provided to doctors, will the doctors even follow through with this? Or will their busy schedules hold them back from in depth explanations to their patients? I can’t imagine my doctor actually taking time to talk to me rather than just give me her back and ask me how I’m doing while writing out that messy prescription. (I don’t know why the doctor in the image below is smiling at the fact that he has his back to his patient and is just thinking of which medication to prescribe him).

It may sound like I’m against healthcare reform but I’m not, I’m just questioning how effective it will be. Many points were mentioned in class regarding healthcare reform such as quality of care, accessibility, and timeliness (these are ones that I found were most important). I think these points, as well as all the others mentioned in class/seminar, are important to address but we have to think: is it actually possible to meet all these expectations?   

            Before I end I just wanted to mention one more thing. A certain topic was discussed in class and lecture and this is the “one size fits all” concept. It was argued that the Canadian healthcare system should be tailored to individuals’ needs but in my opinion how realistic is that? Canada has a population of 33 million so it’s safe to say that having tailored healthcare for everyone is impossible. I’m sure no country is able to do this so why is everyone complaining that Canada isn’t doing this? I completely agree that healthcare should be tailored to meet each individual’s needs but this is just not realistic.

Have a look at this clip regarding Canadian healthcare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXJgkvF19QA I was shocked! I didn’t know Canadian healthcare was that bad. If you don’t want to watch the entire clip fast forward to 3 minutes. In a town outside Toronto they have a lottery for winning a family doctor!