Someone out there in ambulance land envisions calling 911 in an emergency in the same league as ordering pizza. Wake up! “Thirty minutes or it’s free” does not apply to life-threatening conditions. There is plenty of blame to go around. The question is who to impugn. Or do we spread the wealth of responsibility between those in power who have not kept up?
The finger-pointing is not party-driven but must start at the top. Our provincial pundits begin with the Premier. Heck, throw in the Minister of Health while you’re at it. I suspect both get regular briefings outlining the shortcomings. With the downloading of the ambulance service back in 2000, the province and the upper-tier municipalities’ levels of governance each know and share where the gaps are that affect the system.
The effects of the strain on our healthcare start far above my old pay grade. Most paramedics will tell you from the street that the lack of long-term care beds is at the top of a mountain of grief. Backing up our elders and special needs patients in active care beds in our hospitals is only the beginning. The chasm in our healthcare delivery starts there.
Listening to the ongoing list of improvements in healthcare is mildly encouraging. The announcement for a new mega-hospital in the GTA is a good start, though some forget that the rest of us have a pulse outside that same region. Those in charge need to dig deeper, and sooner than later would be preferable.
Most folks think that money is the most critical component of our healthcare. It takes money to buy, equip, build and deliver patient care. If you were describing a pyramid, you could be talked into the concept that it forms the base and broadest part of the structure. I think your temple would fall over in an instant without the most critical element being tightly built, maintained, and reinforced.
That essential component is the human element. People like nurses, technicians, paramedics, doctors and more. Don’t forget all the folks that cook, clean and maintain the bricks and mortar institutions in our province. Literally, thousands of others that I am not familiar with also contribute to an overburdened, underfunded and strained system.
Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for what we have collectively in Ontari-ari-ari-o (did I spell that right?) You just have to look south of our border to appreciate our good fortune, especially in the current climate. But - and it’s a big one - we need to do better. Our families, friends and fellow Ontarians depend on a system becoming short of breath. Soon, even oxygen won’t help. I hope politicians know CPR.
Listening to and reading media reports featuring stories on our healthcare paint some dim pictures. That’s before we even get to the COVID pandemic and the life-altering effect it has had worldwide. More important are the accounts I hear from work acquaintances serving in emergency medical services, nurses, doctors, and various healthcare providers still in the trenches in our region.
Hearing sad stories from front-line staff of how managers and critical leaders within healthcare are looking away instead of around them and supporting the human resource that drives the “system” is disparaging, to say the least. There are great managers out there that are being swallowed up by the organization they strive to serve. Many good intentions are swamped by that stinky, sticky stuff running downhill.
Pretty soon, the innovative management style and direct care offered by the human blocks shouldering the workload across the base of our pyramid, is going to crumble. I am already hearing strong rumblings of apathy from the ranks that I still hold in the highest regard. If the spirits of the professionals serving us are dashed, I will not feel the loss as much as my daughter and your children.
The strained labour relations I hear of from the people who care for us collectively in our worst hour distract them from their mandate to do what they do best: CARE. We absolutely depend on the human element of compassion that each healthcare worker brings to the constituents they serve each shift. Our health and well-being hinge on the stability that the politicians, senior managers and supervisors must empower everyone working in healthcare to deliver.
Don’t let us down now; please fix our healthcare.
We don’t have thirty minutes. Irreversible brain damage can start in as little as eight minutes. Ask yourself: what do we need to do now to get back on track?