Private Member's Statement: Public Health
October 27, 2008
Dr. Swann: Albertans are paying the price for the Conservative government's long-standing mismanagement of the public health and prevention systems. Year after year cutbacks to public health, including four medical officers this year, have led inexorably to this unfortunate result, thousands of Albertans potentially infected with life-threatening illnesses
Today's revelations about the problems in High Prairie remind us of similar problems at St. Joseph's hospital in Vegreville 18 months ago, yet apparently there hasn't been enough sobering wake up to shake this inept government into action. All Albertans, including thousands of dedicated health professionals, are shocked that this was allowed to happen again.
Health system restructuring has not and will not address the frontline problems of space and staff shortages and quality control. Staff are told to do more with less and cope with unsafe workloads so that prevention policy and enforcement issues, like infection control, take the back burner, and patients' lives, yours and mine, Mr. Speaker, are being placed at risk. This is the tip of the iceberg of negligence in this government, and many staff are reluctant to come forward and reveal serious problems from the emergency departments to the long-term care settings.
In High Prairie the most basic of medical procedures is not safe and has not been safe for 18 years. Surely, if this government is truly interested in openness, in the interest of public safety it will now bring forward whistle-blower protection to give workers confidence that they can contribute to safer conditions without reprisal. Front-line health care professionals are alarmed by the lack of listening from this minister or influence on issues affecting quality of care and the legal liability that they face daily. The public and professionals have lost confidence that this government has the ability or the will to address fundamental issues of access and quality and cost efficiency, let alone infection control. The minister must provide the necessary resources to public health to deliver the results Albertans deserve and restore Albertans' trust in our cherished public health system.
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