{"id":14740,"date":"2022-08-07T15:14:05","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T19:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/?p=14740"},"modified":"2023-07-24T20:39:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T00:39:46","slug":"the-public-health-care-system-is-canadas-gordian-knot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/?p=14740","title":{"rendered":"The public health care system is Canada\u2019s Gordian Knot"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Niagara Independent, August 5, 2022 \u2013<\/em> On July 15, a B.C. Court of Appeal delivered a decision that tightens the country\u2019s Gordian Knot: our revered public health care system. The court\u2019s decision rejected user-paid medical care, even if the patient must wait an unreasonable and potentially harmful amount of time for care. For defenders of the public system, this edict pulled taut those Canadian ties that bind us to an increasingly strained (and some will describe as \u201cbroken\u201d) care system.<\/p>\n

The B.C. court justices upheld a lower provincial court decision which rejected arguments made by Dr. Brian Day that Canadians\u2019 right to life was being violated by not being able to receive timely medical attention. Dr. Day, an orthopedic surgeon, argued that where the public health care system fails to meet the needs of an individual, the individual should have the ability to access personal care at their expense. But, the court ruled against the individual in favour of the common good, rationalizing the necessity of banning private health care in order to protect the public system.<\/p>\n

In their written decision, the justices went so far as to say that, even though long wait times may risk poor health outcomes \u2013 in some cases denying patients their charter right to life and security of the person \u2013 these violations are within \u201cprinciples of fundamental justice\u201d as they assure the sustainability of Canada\u2019s public health system.<\/p>\n

The subtext to the court decision was the justices\u2019 recognition of the ailing state of public health care in B.C. where it is appreciated that wait times can be excessive and increase risks to patients. In March 2018, almost 33,500 adults were waiting for necessary medical care beyond the maximum wait time \u2013 and since the COVID pandemic this number has grown. On this point, the court admitted the lower court judge had erred by minimizing the harm to patients and failing to acknowledge that wait times could even lead to death.<\/p>\n

In the weeks following this notable decision, Canadians learned of the extreme harm our public health care system can inflict. In New Brunswick, a patient in pain and visible discomfort died while sitting for hours in the waiting room of a Fredericton hospital ER. In Vancouver, an elderly woman died while laying on a stretcher in a hospital waiting room for two days without attention.<\/p>\n

A 76-year-old Ontario man made national news when he was left for four days on a stretcher in a hallway of a Wiarton hospital. He had shattered his femur in a cycling accident and required transportation and surgery in a London hospital.<\/p>\n

The Ontario care system is in critical care this summer.<\/p>\n