Canada’s public health system essay

For any nation to function well and its economy to improve, it needs able bodied men and women who are engaged in the production of quality goods and services. These individuals need to be healthy in order to carry out these activities. Therefore, it is any government’s responsibility to ensure that there are good health care systems in place if they have the interests of the citizens and country at heart. It is not certain how much Canada spends on health care but in provinces like Ontario, 2.

% of the provincial budget goes to health. The Canadian health system known as Medicare provides access to medical care to all its citizens through third party insurance where the insurer is each province while incorporating Canadian values . It tries to make sure that there is adequate distribution and supply of man power, documentation of cost efficient alternatives in providing health care and addressing health needs to both the privileged and underprivileged . As the Canadian heath system tries to implement health policies and equitable distribution of resources, the question that most people ask is does the money paid by tax payers reach those it is supposed to be helping and are the health policies set working for the greater good of everyone? Canada’s health care system has been faced with many challenges and as the concerns become more and more each day the need to address them urgently . Some of the problems with regards to the Canadian health care system are outlined below. There is a gap that is widening between the ‘ have’ and ‘ have-not’ provinces in the allocation of resources. The better off provinces have more doctors/physicians, nurses, better hospitals and equipment while little can be said for the remote areas where the few hospitals are a maze of activities with never ending people streaming in and out of small hospitals with overcrowded waiting rooms by patients waiting to see the few available doctors. There have been consistent complaints from medical practitioners about poor pay packages that need to be reviewed.

The government is the body that pays the doctors. Once payment has been made by the patient, the slips are presented to government via the health officers in charge therefore, even if they charge the patients more; which they are not supposed to do, they will not benefit. This lack of the number one incentive to boost their morale has made them poor performers as medical personnel. In Canada, the federal government is in charge of taxation while leaders of provinces manage health care and sometimes there is confusion when it comes to the allocation of funds. Most of the time these funds are not enough therefore, the government through its many policies in trying to check the economy especially during this tough times of inflation and collapse of businesses, it is cutting the costs on certain sectors of the economy and part of the funds for health are being diverted to other uses. The government may be doing the right thing but it seems to have its priorities all wrong. Another issue is the growing concern on the lack of the government to address the ever increasing threats to health.

Example it should work on educating the public on cancer issues as new forms of cancer are emerging plus other chronic illnesses. As it makes the public aware and coming up with preventive mechanisms, it should ensure that proper nutrition is emphasized as the foods people eat largely contribute to such cases . The environment we live in largely contributes to our health. The government has tried to form environmental protection agencies using health care resources but their main focus is on pollution control and ecological health and not public health or disease control which should be part of their job. Looking at the above problems we have seen that the government or the people it has delegated to do their work in improving health care; maybe have been overburdened by other issues and cannot handle the health system on their own. That is why the private enterprise and competitors should be left to deal with health issues. Privatization of health care will ensure that patients have excellent medical care as private medical practitioners carry out their work professionally as their lives are dependant on it and any mishaps means losing their jobs as the reward for a job well done is better payments.

By privatizing the health sector, the government will have one less burden off its list of things to do because it will have a body solely dedicated to ensuring that most if not all health issues are addressed. The private sector will have the green light to do research and invent new medicines. If this barriers with regards to the policies in place that restrict the private sector and other competitors are removed, Canadian citizens will have access to a wide range of treatment, live better lives and the government concentrate in improving other sectors of the economy . Anything done in private-business wise- is done big and in style. Canada’s health system is doing fine but it can be better in the hands of private practitioners who will make sure that the hospitals become bigger, equipped with the latest technology, doctors and nurses will have better pay thus will have no reason to complain as they will be smiling all the way to the bank. Furthermore, expansions will be done all over the country and the people in remote areas who have consistently complained of poor services will have access to good hospitals and infrastructure to get to those places.

Moreover, private enterprises like those in Alberta and Ontario who are providing home based care and have gone to the extent of providing disability insurance thus ensuring everyone will not only be entitled to medical care but the very best care . The private sector does not seek to undermine the public system as seen by some individuals strongly opposing its involvement in Medicare. They think that privatization is a way of making money and treating health care like a business.

Contrary, services offered are sometimes cheap as seen in British Columbia where private laboratories provide cheaper common tests for the general practitioners . Privatizing health care is something that the private practitioners take very seriously and it is their business to make sure that people are given the best of medicines and by qualified and professional doctors who encourage healthy lifestyles . Just like every profession has ethics, the private sector is more than willing to be held accountable when things go wrong. Though they will not do something intentionally and wait to see the actions taken.

The private system has made sure that the best treatment and advice is given to patients furthermore there will be no delays in the delivery of services like the case in Quebec where a patient had to wait for one in order to get a hip-replacement surgery. This are the kind of cases associated with the public system that the privatization will eradicate. Privatization of health care has and will continue to ensure that matters of national urgency will be addressed in time.

Take for instance in 2003 the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) caught people unaware and the continual spread of west Nile virus across Canada have tested the public health system readiness to deal with health threats . In enhancing this, it has departments and institutions set to deal with emergency preparedness and response so that incase of any calamity, there are people standing by to deal with the problem as it comes. The public system clearly struggles in defining the roles played by the various functions in the system and the roles and responsibilities played by public health leaders at the national, provincial and local levels.

Management roles are affected when hospitals work as funders and suppliers of materials . A policy may be passed but there is no clarity on who is responsible to ensure that it is implemented. Private enterprise have there roles well defined therefore issues of a person playing someone else’s role while they have not finished essentially what they are supposed to do will not be tolerated. In order to strengthen the effectiveness of service delivery, the private practitioners are made better through regular trainings especially when it comes to new technologies and they also have a strong support system for the work force where if they have any grievances that they would want addressed them will go.

Competition is also good in health care as it makes people always on toes as they want to be known as the best in the field. Privatization ensures good insurance packages are offered as applications for insurance are evaluated and come up good health policies which are marketable to be used in other countries other than Canada . As the private sector booms, more investors are attracted and this is beneficial to the country, the more private run health care facilities will be forced to perform so as to please the investors. Treating people and addressing medical problems is a very rewarding and fulfilling career.

Medical practitioners in the public sector feel they deserve better payments for the work they do. When students see that other jobs are more rewarding they tend to focus on those disciplines and public health leaders have tried but not made an effort in encouraging the young to take up medical professions. No wonder there is a shortage of staff and the few who are there are over worked . The private system ensures that it has a positive impact in society and aims to make sure that it goes to schools especially high schools and the universities to talk more on the benefits of medicine to society and in so doing will be ensuring that they have future researchers and doctors who will make the world a better place. Conclusion The public health care system cannot on its own fully satisfy the health needs of its citizens as it has to deal with the technological and fiscal issues which limit its progress. It must embrace the work done by the private enterprise and competitors since they have identified the loopholes in the public system and the resources they lack and can and have filed these gaps by ensuring that the necessary resources and materials are in place. Furthermore they are in constant consultation with their stakeholders who are the investors in the business and ensured the human resource problems in the system have been addressed.

They are willing to invest in public health infrastructure, participate in educating the pubic on diseases, their treatments and methods of prevention, work with experts in the business and are open to any ideas and criticisms so that they can improve on the areas that need to be worked on all this to make certain that all Canadians have access to good and proper health care .