Optimistic healthcare

I seem to think about this blog like the box of cookies I found in the living room cabinet, where I had stored it for 'later'... and then forgot it was there. Fortunately, they were still edible... not sure what the shelf-life for chocolate cookies is, really. Who cares. Chocolate is chocolate.

Okay, but I think perhaps if I keep writing my thoughts, eventually my hard thinking will permeate someone else's brain and there will be a groundswell of surprisingly intelligent actions re: healthcare-- sort of like how suddenly everyone decided to really like coffee or cupcakes. Maybe really liking healthcare reform will be next...

I live in hope.

I am not a young person. In fact, most of my friends are tipping into being what I would have considered old-- when I was younger. Sixty seemed like ancient; now it's behind me, and I have to admit, most of the time, I don't think of myself as 'old'. But I know, deep down, that eventually I will be not so flexible or full of energy.

I was walking the dog (or he was walking me) this evening & I passed an elderly couple-- the man walking in front of his wife by a few paces... we said hello & something about the weather... and his wife, walking behind, a smile on her face, just kept walking. I have seen them around the neighbourhood before & I know the woman has some form of dementia-- lives at home with her husband, who obviously takes good care of her. And I think, "So, what will happen when there are so many more of us... in that age group, with these needs?".

We have Community Care Access Centres that are supposed to be system navigators here in Ontario. But they don't work. They REALLY don't work. Everyone I speak with (who doesn't work at a CCAC) feels this way. There are components of these centres that are good, and people that want to do the right thing-- I don't disagree with that... but there are so many "wrong" things about this set-up-- and I have seen them across the province, acting the same way.

To be politically correct is to remain silent in this case. We have a new Minister of Health, but he's said he doesn't have plans to change the current structure of the LHINs and CCACs. I hope that once he has the opportunity to really look at their mandate and how they function, he will realize that there are far more effective ways of providing these services.

I certainly don't have answers. But I have questions. For example, how is it that the CCACs say the patients/clients in the community "belong" to them-- and that the agencies have no right to engage clients in (for example) studies (that have been through Ethics & have approval) without the express approval of the CCAC? Why is there a layer of bureaucracy at the CCAC that demands nurses fill in paperwork and have to ask permission to change visit schedules, dressings, etc.? (and often from non-nurses at the CCAC)? Why was there an enormous amount of time, money and energy spent on introducing "Outcome Based Pathways" (which were mandated by the OACCAC across the province-- and this has now been shelved???

Answer me these questions-- along with why the OACCAC office is on the "Mink Mile" on Bloor Street in Toronto-- (look it up on Google maps if you don't believe me: 130 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1N5) tucked in with Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc.... where the bathroom in the OACCAC has marble tiles that would each pay for someone's compression stockings for a couple of years...

So how is the Ontario government putting a stop to the profligate spending and arrogance demonstrated time and time again in this bureaucratic nightmare (for anyone who is NOT part of the CCAC...). ? So far, doing nothing.

As I said, I know there are good people within the CCACs. But I also know that there are enormous flaws in this system that require a complete re-working of the Empire. Because that's what it's become. And frankly, before I and my cohort really need the healthcare services, as our lives unravel like old sweaters, or like the elderly couple out walking in my neighbourhood-- I worry-- how long will they be able to manage? And how will the bureaucratic fortress of the CCACs be in any position to help?

You know, this is not right. We need to have intelligent decisions made-- and the people making the decisions need to be, not policy analysts & accountants & business-people, but nurses and doctors and allied healthcare workers along with patients and their families. We need a strong Ministry of Health to help do this-- and a solid electronic healthcare information/data system too-- one that can keep track of data and ensure we are doing the right thing, and spending our money wisely.

Because it is OUR money. I don't want to pay for rent in the Mink Mile when I'm told a patient can't have a service or a dressing because it costs too much.