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Why is our health care system and government broken? Part 2.
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Dr. Zafar Essak, MD - Vancouver, BC - October 6, 2024.
This is part 2 in a series covering different aspects of our health care system and government. Let’s apply our thinking to the problems and solutions.
Part 2. Early closure of debate erodes our parliamentary democracy.
Early closure of debate is important to health care because it was used by the current BC NDP government to push through the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) in 2022, with changes to the licensing of doctors and other health care professionals. Early closure of debate was also used by the BC NDP to push through three additional far reaching pieces of legislation. So, what is early closure of debate and why does it matter?
Why is our health care system and government broken? Part 1.
Public
Dr. Zafar Essak, MD - Vancouver, BC - October 6, 2024.
This is part 1 in a series covering different aspects of our health care system and government. Let’s apply our thinking to the problems and solutions.
Part 1. How health care administration over took funding for doctors.
Every day we hear reports on how our health care system is broken and having difficulty keeping up with the health challenges faced by patients and people throughout BC and across the country. We hear politicians say it’s like this because of a lot of unexpected circumstances and they’re doing the best that can be done; that they are following what the experts are telling them, and we should trust them to carry on with it.
Are these unexpected circumstances or are they foreseeable outcomes?
Either way, our health care system is broken. So, how do we fix it?
The Tenth Nerve: a brain surgeon's stories of the patients who changed him
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Penguin Random House Canada has published this book and I hope you will enjoy it.
These are the stories of seven brave patients whose close encounters changed me into a better person and surgeon. It is a book about discoveries—both medical discoveries (including two new diseases) that I have provided my patients and personal discoveries that my patients have prompted in me. The scalpel can only go so deep, and technical skill can only take you so far. Real understanding of an illness requires listening and genuine care. The Tenth Nerve is a book about curiosity, the wonder of the human brain, and the courage of a few remarkable patients.
Delegation to Campbell River City Council on concerns arising from HPOA
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At the Campbell River City Council meeting on February 29, 2024, a delegation of physician Dr Anna Kindy and retired naturopath Dr Ingrid Pincott discussed the Health Professions and Occupation Act, HPOA, and the serious concerns it raises for health professionals, patients, and people living in and around Campbell River. Like most City Council meetings in BC it was streamed live and recorded and can be watched on YouTube. City councillors asked questions and expressed the view that these concerns are important and that they would like to ensure it is discussed when the UBCM meets this year, on September 16-20, 2024.
What loud bells will wake BC doctors and the public to the dangers of Bill 36, the HPOA?
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Dr. Zafar Essak, MD - Vancouver, BC - November 6, 2023.
There is a sleeping sickness throughout our land. It has found its way into health care and affected all the doctors. It is not some esoteric thing happening in some small political arena or lawyers club. This impacts all of BC and all of us: the ability of doctors to practice medicine the way they were taught and trained, according to their conscience and oath for the benefit of patients.
The significance of Bill 36, the Health Professions and Occupations Act, is profound and the association, Doctors of BC, should be ringing alarm bells. Instead, they are subduing the importance of it, convincing all doctors to move on to the regulations, like lemmings over the cliff. Not only is this unhelpful to doctors, it is actually dangerous for doctors with their purpose and professional obligations to deliver health care to patients. Bells need to ring everywhere, and the association should be dissolved.
Documentary: Waiting To Die - Canada's Health Care Crisis
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A new one hour documentary by Aaron Gunn, "Waiting To Die - Canada's Health Care Crisis" was released yesterday (August 14, 2023) and in the first day it had more than 23,000 views and more than 700 comments from people sharing their own experiences and thoughts.
Times-Colonist OpEd: Dix needs to listen to healthcare providers
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Please read the OpEd by a BC family doctor that while Health Minister Adrian Dix uses findings of the Cayton report to defend the rapid introduction of Bill 36, the HPOA, he refuses to comment on the contradictory content in the report and snubs the issues raised by the Doctors of BC.
More than 400 doctors attend Bill 36 HPOA Webinar by Doctors of BC
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Update (April 16, 2024): Almost a year has passed and the association Doctors Of BC still has not made the recording of the webinar on Bill36/HPOA available for members to view. Why not?
Dr. Zafar Essak, MD - Vancouver, BC - May 3, 2023.
How important is Bill 36, the new Health Professions and Occupations Act, to doctors, nurses, all health care professionals, and patients? Important enough that more than 400 doctors attended the Doctors of BC Townhall Webinar on Tuesday April 25, 2023 at 6:30 pm. This, in the middle of the week, while doctors are trying to finish work or balancing family and meal time. When was the last time you saw 400 doctors attend a meeting? We haven’t seen a number like that at the DOBC AGM for decades.
It was a very informative webinar organized by DOBC with over 100 questions from doctors to a panel of three Ministry of Health staff, as architects of Bill 36, followed by a panel of the DOBC: President, Dr. Josh Greggain; new CEO, Anthony Knight; staff lawyer, Deborah Viccars; and moderated by Marisa Adair, Director of Communications.
Three Reasons for a Chat with Dr. Bonnie Henry, BC Health Minister Adrian Dix and BC Premier David Eby
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Dr. Zafar Essak, MD - Vancouver, BC - April 5, 2023
Having worked for 40 years as a family physician in BC, when I heard the media announcements recently: that on April 3 vaccine mandates will be lifted on BC public service government workers but not on health care workers until it can become a permanent condition of work in health care, and that we may see only combined vaccines in the fall; it struck me that it’s time we had a real chat. This can’t wait.
Politics is often seen as a glamorous, shiny and sometimes slimy affair. But, seriously, politics is about how we make collective decisions and manage the affairs of our society in our democracy.
There are three things I believe we need to talk about now: