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For Immediate Release Thursday, January 21, 2010
Changing Alberta's health care laws rings alarm bells for nurses
EDMONTON – The move to new over-arching health legislation, an “Alberta Health Act” proposed by the Minister's Advisory Committee raises several concerns for the United Nurses of Alberta.
“Alberta’s current health care laws are NOT the cause of problems in our health system,” says UNA President Heather Smith. “The shortage of doctors and nurses, the devasting reorganization and budget squeezes are causing serious problems, and waits,” she says. “The health laws are NOT the problem, here.”
“This new legislation will replace important laws like the Nursing Home Act, and the important standards and protection they afford,” says Heather Smith. “The Nursing Home Act requires hours of care, and hours of Registered Nurse care. These days the acuity and complexity of the needs of patients is far higher than when the regulations were brought in. Those guarantees of care are important protections. ”
New legislation could be a means for government to remove the existing guarantees and replace them with regulations that only call for “adequate” or “appropriate” staffing.
“Albertans will not be fooled by duplicitous language. We want specifics,” Heather Smith says. “This is not the kind of industry where you depend on self-regulation. That’s not the kind of protection the people of this province deserve.”
No details of legislation changes are included in the new report. Like many previous reports it is full of reasonable-sounding recommendations. However, the long history of undermining Alberta’s health system suggests this be may another attempt at eroding the legislative framework.
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Backgrounder
Careful report wording offers clues on how new Health Act could change policy
The carefully-worded report does offer some clues about significant changes. It refers repeatedly to “person-focused” care and a patient “bill of rights”.
“Person-focused care” is carefully chosen language. In recent government reports, it signals a change toward a market-oriented system. It goes along with “activity-based funding” which is a price setting mechanism that paves the way for commercial health care. “Patient-focused” can also set up for a system of consumers in a health service market.
The report also says it is important to clear up definitions in new health legislation and introduces some new terms: “basic care, basic care services, basic health services”. The implication that public care provides not “all medically necessary” services, but that there is a separate category of basic services should be very alarming for Albertans.
“Contemplating a basic level of services would mean denying Albertans the comprehensive care we need,” Heather Smith says.
“We very much welcome the report’s recommendations that health policy be based on the best practices and on evidence. The research and evidence show that a single-payer, universal, publicly-delivered system provides the best bang for the buck in health services,” says Heather Smith.
“Albertans will get less with a move to a market system of health businesses providing a “person-focused” services. That would cost us all far more, and we would get less,” says Heather Smith.
She welcomes the report’s promise to consult Albertans about legislative changes.
“Albertans do not want to move to a far more privatized health care system. If the government truly consults with Albertans, that message will come through loudly and clearly,” Heather Smith says.
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