I saw your post about health care access in Alberta on Facebook.
I have had to deal with poor access of our health care system. I had pinched nerves in my cervical spine for more than 2 years but it took a huge amount of time to get seen in a spine clinic in Calgary. As well, I was charged $300.00 just to get an appointment and then was not impressed when the initial assessment was done by a chiropractor (that was apparently what the charge was for, but I was led to believe that it was for the appointment as was told that if I paid they could make me an appt). The “assessment “ by the chiro lasted all of 10-15 minutes and I felt was a total waste of time as I had been assessed previously by both my family doctor and a physiotherapist, who I felt had a better idea of what I was dealing with. At any rate, following that assessment, the chiropractor attended with me to see the “spine specialist “ (who was actually a GP). This doctor never got off his chair & never touched me but just went along with whatever the chiropractor said (this was not helpful & I felt was a waste of my time). He did not think I warranted surgery even though the pain from the nerve impingement was causing me issues in my day to day living tasks and greatly affecting my sleep (in that I was not able to sleep properly due to the pain). I had already seen physiotherapy for more than a year with no change in my symptoms. (This of course at personal cost to me). The doctor wanted me to have cervical spine injections, which I had to travel back to Calgary for, but all they did was make my symptoms worse. After about a year & a half he finally referred me to a surgeon. I never actually saw this surgeon as I was assessed by a resident, who didn’t seem to know what he was looking for. I was then told that the surgeon didn’t think I was a candidate for surgery at this time, even though she never laid eyes or hands on me. For the next year +, I continued to suffer greatly with this pain and then had to leave my job, as I was no longer able to perform a lot of my duties because of the pain. I was finally able to speak to the surgeon on the phone and as she was going on maternity leave she referred me to a colleague. I saw that new surgeon within a couple of months (but had already been suffering for more than 2 & 1/2 years). She felt that in fact I did need surgery and I had that surgery done (successfully I might add) within 4 months. I don’t feel that I should have had to suffer as long as I did in order to get the surgery that I needed, so that I could live a normal al life!
Now, my husband is waiting for a referral to a local surgeon for removal of a suspicious lump on his hand, that has grown a lot in the last few months. We have been told that this referral will take “a long while” whatever that means. Seeing as this lump could be cancerous, it would seem like this would be more urgent, but it will still take a very long time to be dealt with. For things like a growth that is suspicious, his appt. should be within a few weeks, not a number of months or longer!
I also have a friend who lives in Lethbridge, and she is needing to have a breast reduction done. She is now wearring a size “double KK” cup and is in a lot of pain in her neck and back due to this. She has been told by her family doctor in Lethbridge, that there are no Plastic Surgeons or general surgeons taking new referrals in Lethbridge because they are too busy! That is crazy! This friend is recently widowed and will now be looking at travelling to Calgary to first have a consultation with a surgeon and the have to return to have the surgery done. So not only will she have a lot of travel to deal with but also the extra cost of the fuel and staying in hotels along with food. Plus, now that she is a widow she has no one to accompany her for these appts that will likely take a very long while before they even happen!
Also recently, we had to deal with our aging mom after she broke her hip while living in an SL4 placement. When she was deemed ready to be moved to long term care, we were asked for our top 2 choices as to where we wanted her placed. Unfortunately in the real world, our choices make no difference as our loved ones are placed into the 1st bed that is available, whether that is where you want them to reside or not! As it happened our mom was placed into Agecare RiverView here in Medicine Hat. This is a very old facility that has not had any updates done for many, many years. The room she was placed in was a shared room that was very small. The beds they have are old and she was only there 6 days before she had developed a bedsore, due to the poor mattresses. It was actually heartbreaking to have to leave her there day after day. We felt the care was not optimal and in fact some of the staff are downright nasty.and if they are acting that way when we, as family are there, how do they treat our aged loved ones when we are not there.? It is unacceptable that some of our facilities are so poorly maintained, none of these types of facilities should be for profit, they should be first & foremost focused on excellent care for our seniors, who helped to make this province & this country what it is, they have paid taxes all of their lives but when they need compassionate care, it is very hard to find. This government needs to step up & do better for our seniors!!
So, as you can see, our Premier saying that “Albertans can receive their health care where & when they need it” is a bunch of BS and now it is already getting worse as we read of times when already booked surgery within our regular system (that people have already waited up to 2 years for) are being bumped back even further because the doctors can now do the surgery in a private clinic and make a lot more money doing that. So, as predicted, this 2-tier health system is going to totally dismantle our already poorly operating universal health system.
I do not want my name published with any of this, my postal code is T1A 5J1.
Thank you for taking on this monumental task and I hope you are successful in getting this 2-tiered system dismantled!
Anonymous