Campaign 2008 CNA's Four Issues for the Election
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Campaign 2008 | CNA’s Four Issues for the Next Election
http://election.cna-aiic.ca
Campaign 2008
CNA’s Four Issues for the Election
CNA Election 2008 Toolkit • http://election.cna-aiic.ca
1
Campaign 2008 | CNA’s Four Issues for the Next Election
In every federal election over the past 100 years, the
Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) has identified
The Canadian Nurses Association several issues as priorities for political action. As
engages politicians and other your professional association, we focus on these
issues when engaging with the political parties during
decision-makers in government to election campaigns. Our efforts at the national level
are strengthened by your engagement with political
establish legislation, policies and candidates in your constituency.
programs that support better
health and health care for all Prepare yourself!
Canadians. There are practical steps you can take
during the election to campaign for a
sustainable health system and for better
health for all of us. More information on
Health and health care are how to advocate for nursing is available
at http://election.cna-aiic.ca.
important
For a decade or more, opinion polls have During the 2008 election campaign, CNA will
shown access to health care to be a top concern of focus on practical solutions to four issues that are
Canadians. A September 3 2008 poll from Ipsos Reid critical to health and health care in Canada:
finds health care tied with the environment as the 1. Sustaining Canada’s publicly funded, not-for-profit
number one priority for Canadians. Political candidates health system through innovation and technology
cannot ignore this fact. Thoughtful, effective ideas
to improve access to health care are worthy of 2. Ensuring safe, effective and affordable prescription
political support. The approaches proposed by CNA drugs for all Canadians
support innovation and will make our health system 3. Training, recruiting and effectively deploying health
more sustainable. professionals
4. Reducing threats to health, particularly from
environmental risks
In March 2005, the Canadian Health Services
CNA will work with the leaders and national staff of
Research Foundation (CHSRF) summarized research
each of the political parties to make sure these four
on the impact that creating a second-tier – parallel,
issues are on their policy agenda. These issues will also
privately owned – health system would have on wait
play themselves out in different and important ways
times. CHSRF concluded that it is difficult to see how
in each of the 308 constituencies across the country.
such a system would alleviate waits.
Your participation during the election campaign will
guarantee that political candidates become aware of the
It observed, for example, that “since healthcare
relevance of the four issues – and nursing’s proposed
practitioners can’t be in more than one place at the
solutions – in their constituency.
same time, creating a parallel private system simply
takes badly needed doctors and nurses out of our
public hospitals.”
CHSRF, Mythbusters, March 2005 All political candidates are interested in ideas that voters
support. Nurses can engage candidates to help them
photos: Teckles Photography Inc
understand that it makes political sense to deal with
health issues and to support the solutions offered by
Canada’s nurses.
http://election.cna-aiic.ca • CNA Election 2008 Toolkit
2
Campaign 2008 | CNA’s Four Issues for the Next Election
Here is how the four issues connect to the work 1 Sustaining Canada’s publicly funded,
of the federal government (no matter which party
is in power): not-for-profit health system
• The federal government has articulated a national Main Message
science and technology agenda. CNA’s solutions Although our health-care system is facing many challenges
involve a significant role for technology innovation – the best-known are access to care and wait times – there
in addressing the challenges in our health system. are also many solutions, and these solutions do not require
moving to private health care or to a two-tier system.
• The federal government contributes to the National
These solutions involve innovation and an expanded use
Pharmaceuticals Strategy through funding to
of technology. Many new technologies offer significant
Canada Health Infoway and the Canadian Optimal
improvements in efficiency, as proven in pilot projects, but
Prescribing and Utilization Service, as well as drug
they have not been marketed and implemented nationally.
regulation, among others.
The Ask
• The federal government is responsible for
workplace learning and knowledge development. CNA wants your support for the federal government to
Our solutions address this responsibility. invest and provide leadership in two areas:
1. A national strategy to improve innovation and productivity
• The federal government has legislative in the health sector
responsibility for managing threats to the
environment (Canadian Environmental Protection 2. Accelerated implementation of electronic health records
Act), including threats that affect human health. and other information and communications technology to
improve access to health services
Privatization of the health system is not the panacea. The Facts
Research comparing the quality of health services • When we consider the spending of other nations, there
and outcomes shows that publicly funded health is no reason to believe that Canada’s expenditures on
services have better results than do privately health are out of control. Canada spent 10% of GDP on
owned facilities. health in 2006, ranking 8th among 30 countries in the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD).1 (The U.S. spent 15.3% of GDP on health in 2006.)2
Getting the message right However, we need to target our investments in health
system more strategically.
• Numerous projects in hospitals and health facilities across
For each of the four issues, CNA wants politicians
the country have shown the benefits of e-health and other
to support innovation that makes our health system
technologies as well as re-engineered work processes.3
more effective. Action on CNA’s proposed solutions
falls within the responsibilities of the federal • Innovative approaches to front-line care have
government (for information on who’s responsible for demonstrated the effectiveness of interprofessional
what, go to http://election.cna-aiic.ca). The following health-care teams.4
messages are designed for use with decision- • Anthony Fell, chairman of RBC Capital Markets,
makers in the national political observes that the health sector is 25 to 30 years behind
parties and with candidates for the banking industry in its adoption of information and
federal office. communications technology.5
• Establishing electronic health records across the country
may be able to save the system $48 billion over 20 years
through reductions in adverse drug events alone, and
another $14 billion could be saved over the same period
by reducing duplicate and unnecessary tests.6
• It will cost $10 billion over 10 years to create electronic
health records for all Canadians.7 So far, the federal
government has only invested $1.5 billion.8
CNA Election 2008 Toolkit • http://election.cna-aiic.ca
3
Campaign 2008 | CNA’s Four Issues for the Next Election
2
Ensuring safe, effective and affordable drugs, including generic drugs, to ensure that drugs
are safe, effective and accessible in a timely and cost-
prescription drugs for all Canadians effective fashion.
Main Message • In its 2008 annual report to Canadians, the Health
Council of Canada remarked on the unacceptable
Every Canadian should have timely access to safe and
progress in creating the national pharmaceutical
effective prescription drugs, and no Canadian should be
strategy that was promised in 2004.12
deprived of needed prescription drugs because they are
unable to pay. 3
The Ask
Training, recruiting and effectively
CNA wants the federal government to fulfill its deploying health professionals
commitment in the 2004 Health Accord to implement a Main Message
national pharmaceutical strategy. Will you accelerate
efforts to implement all nine elements of the national Canada is failing to train, retain and effectively deploy
pharmaceutical strategy? health professionals. Canada must invest more in
employee training. The projected RN shortage is
The Facts 113,000 by 2016.
• Spending on prescription drugs neared $27 billion in
2007. It has been estimated that 20% of Canadians are The Ask
underinsured or uninsured against drug expenditures. 9 CNA wants the federal government to support initiatives
• In 2004, the prime minister and all of the provincial and in the following two areas.
territorial premiers, known as the “First Ministers,” 1. The development of new skills. Will you endorse
agreed that no Canadian should suffer undue financial measures, including the use of revenues collected
hardship for needed drug therapy.10 for employment insurance, that directly reward
• The First Ministers agreed to take measures, by the Canadian workers and employers for investing in skills
end of 2005/06, to ensure that all Canadians, wherever development?
they live, have reasonable access to catastrophic drug 2. Increased enrolment opportunities in health sciences
coverage.11 education. Will you support programs that augment the
• The First Ministers also agreed to further collaborate enrolment capacity of educational institutions to match
to promote optimal drug use, best practices in drug the recruitment needs of the federal government for
prescription and better management of the costs of all nurses – about 1,600 registered nurses new hires will
be needed by the federal government over the next ten
years – as well as other health professionals?
Nursing Facts The Facts
In 2006, there were 252,948 registered nurses (RNs) • In 1996 Canadian employers invested, on average, $842
employed in nursing in Canada. in training per employee, but in 2006 that amount had
55% of RNs held full-time nursing positions. fallen to only $699 (in 1996 dollars).13
13% of RNs had more than one employer in nursing. • Health-care organizations spend 1.27% of their payroll
on learning and development, whereas organizations
For every RN who was 35 years or younger, there were from other sectors spend 1.80%.14
1.9 RNs who were 50 or older. • It is critical that workers continually enhance their
One in every five RNs in Canada is 55 years of age or older. skills for Canada to compete successfully on the world
stage. Canada’s employers, however, are not keeping
35% of nurses working in oncology and 45% of nurses pace with other OECD countries in the amount of
working in operating rooms will retire in the next five years. training they provide to their workers.15
The projected RN shortage is 113,000 by 2016. • A recent report from Statistics Canada reveals that 77%
References:
of workers in health occupations reported improved job
Canadian Institute for Health Information, RN Database. 2006 performance as a result of continuing education.16
CNA, Planning for the Future: Nursing Human Resource Projections. 2002
• According to the 2006 World Health Report, continuing
education is a significant factor influencing the
http://election.cna-aiic.ca • CNA Election 2008 Toolkit retention of health professionals, including nurses.174
Campaign 2008 | CNA’s Four Issues for the Next Election
• The federal government is the fifth largest employer Nurses’ credibility and
of nurses in Canada, employing approximately 3,500
registered nurses in departments such as Veterans
strength in numbers
Affairs Canada, National Defence and the Canadian In Canada there are some 270,000 registered
Forces, Health Canada (including its First Nations nurses. Public opinion polls confirm that Canadians
and Inuit Health Branch) and the Correctional Service see nurses as one of the most trusted sources of
of Canada. information and help. Politicians, on the other hand,
have a low trust rating with the public.
• The federal government has nursing vacancy rates as
high as 50%. 18
4 Reducing threats to health, These four main messages are worth repeating: the
more they are repeated, the more effective they will be.
particularly from environmental risks For political candidates to absorb the messages, you
will need to use local examples – anecdotes and stories
Main Message that demonstrate how a particular issue is hampering
Environmental risks, including exposure to harmful the health of voters in their constituency or how CNA’s
contaminants, are damaging the health of Canadians and solutions will benefit those same voters.
causing deaths. Harmful contaminants in our air, water and 1 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2008). OECD health data 2008.
food must be reduced. Retrieved September 5, 2008, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/9/40902483.xls
2 Ibid.
The Ask 3 Canada Health Infoway and Health Council of Canada. (2006). Beyond good intentions: Ac-
celerating the electronic health record in Canada: Summary of main themes and insights. Policy
Will you support legislative action to reduce and eliminate conference held June 11-13, 2006, Montebello, QC. For other examples, see CNA’s Health
risks in the environment that threaten human health? In Human Resources Policy Brief #3, Meeting the Health System’s Labour Challenges through
Innovative Workforce Redesign (http://www.cna-aiic.ca/CNA/issues/hhrbriefs/default_e.aspx).
particular, CNA wants you to: 4 Russell, A., Campbell, H., Scardamalia, M., Lamon, M., Melnick, B., Henderson, J. et al.
(2005).Collaborating to innovate and improve patient-centred care at Hamilton Health
1. Support bringing back Canada’s Clean Air Act as modified Sciences. Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology, Ontario Institute for Studies
by the House of Commons Legislative Committee on Bill in Education, and Hamilton Health Sciences. Longwoods Publishing. Available at www.
longwoods.com/website/CaseStudies/CS0105Russell.pdf
C-30 in 2007. 5 Doctors too slow to embrace electronic health records. (2007, May 25). CBC News. Retrieved
May 28, 2007, from www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/05/25/electronic-health-records.
2. Support necessary changes to the Environmental html?ref=rss
6 Booz Allen Hamilton. (2005). Canada Health Infoway’s 10-year investment strategy: Pan-
Protection Act when it is amended. Canadian electronic health record executive summary. Toronto: Canada Health Infoway.
7 Canada Health Infoway. (2007). EHR at the crossroads of success: 2006-2007 annual report.
The Facts Toronto: Author.
8 Ibid.
• A Listeria outbreak from a breach in food safety has been 9 Canadian Institute for Health Information. (2008). Drug expenditure in Canada 1985 to 2007.
linked to 13 deaths in Canada so far this year.19 Ottawa: Author. Applied Management, Fraser Group, and Tristat Resources. (2000). Canadi-
ans’ access to insurance for prescription medicines. Vol. 2.
• Every year, 5,900 deaths across eight major Canadian 10 Health Canada. (2004). First minister’s meeting on the future of health care. Available at
www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/delivery-prestation/fptcollab/2004-fmm-rpm/index-eng.php
cities can be attributed to air pollution.20 11 Ibid.
• About 2.7 million Canadian children and adults have 12 Health Council of Canada. (2008). Rekindling reform: Health care renewal in Canada 2003-
2008. Ottawa: Author.
asthma; poor air quality contributes to the development 13 Grant, M., & Hughes, P. D. (2007). Learning and development outlook 2007: Are we learning
of this disease.21 enough? Ottawa: Conference Board of Canada.
14 Ibid.
• There were 1,481 probable or confirmed cases of West 15 Ibid.
Nile virus infection in Canada in 2003; by 2007, there 16 Allen, M. K., Ceolin, R., Ouellette, S., Plante, J., & Vaillancourt, C. (2007). Educating health
workers: A statistical portrait 2000 to 2004. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.
were 2,215 such cases.22 Climate change can influence 17 World Health Organization. (2006). The world health report 2006: Working together for
the number and geographic distribution of vector-borne health. Geneva: Author.
18 First Nations and Inuit Health Branch officials, personal communication, 2006.
diseases and increase the length of the transmission 19 Health officials probe more deaths, advise tossing suspect meat. (2008, Aug. 21). CBC News.
season. West Nile virus infections are expected to Retrieved Sept. 7, 2008, from www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/08/21/listeriosis.html?ref=rss
20 Health Canada. (2005, April). Fact sheet. Ottawa: Author. Retrieved January 21, 2008, from
increase in response to global warming. 23 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/nr-cp/2005/2005_32bk1_e.html.
• Extreme weather events will become more common 21 Health Canada. (2006, May). It’s your health: Asthma. Ottawa: Author. Retrieved January 21,
2008, from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/iyh-vsv/diseases-maladies/asthm_e.html#is.
with increasing changes in the climate, and they can 22 Public Health Agency of Canada. West Nile Virus Monitor 2003 and 2007. Available at www.
phac-aspc.gc.ca/wnv-vwn/mon-hmnsurv-2003-eng.php and www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/wnv-vwn/
endanger health. For example, floods can result in mon-hmnsurv-2007-eng.php.
contaminated drinking water supplies, which in turn 23 Health Canada. (2005). Your health and a changing climate: Information for health profes-
sionals. Ottawa: Minister of Health.
can lead to outbreaks of parasitic and bacterial disease 24 Ibid.
such as diarrhoea.24
CNA Election 2008 Toolkit • http://election.cna-aiic.caCampaign 2008 | CNA’s Four Issues for the Next Election
Nurses Do
Make a
Difference
Speak up and vote on October 14
for the candidate and party
who will best work to sustain
the health system
and improve the health of Canadians.
http://election.cna-aiic.ca
http://election.cna-aiic.ca • CNA Election 2008 ToolkitYou can also read
