Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Why one Alberta doctor is open to the province's dual medical practice model

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Why one Alberta doctor is open to the province's dual medical practice model · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: We're going to start in Alberta where Premier Daniel Smith's
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  Speaker 1: government is rolling out its controversial new dual practice health
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  Speaker 1: care model. It'll allow doctors to work in both the
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  Speaker 1: public and private system and it's sparking backlash across the country.
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  Speaker 1: Erin Collins breaks it down for us.
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  Speaker 2: Across Alberta.
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  Speaker 3: Opposition to a new approach to health care on the move.
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  Speaker 1: We want.
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  Speaker 1: Health care, not wealth care.
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  Speaker 2: Bill 11 now in effect will allow Alberta doctors to
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  Speaker 2: perform some elective surgeries like hip and knee replacements in
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  Speaker 2: both the public and private systems. An attempt by the
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  Speaker 2: province to trim wait times by boosting private procedures. Alberta's
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  Speaker 2: premier insisting that the public system will be protected.
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  Speaker 1: The main principle is that any doctor who wants to
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  Speaker 1: participate in dual practice has to continue providing us the
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  Speaker 1: same service that they currently do. They can't reduce it.
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  Speaker 2: The premier claims wait times will shrink as extra surgeries
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  Speaker 2: are done after hours. But some surgeons are skeptical.
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  Speaker 3: If somebody decides to go private, we need to make sure,
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  Speaker 3: I would say, that That means that they're actually working more.
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  Speaker 3: That doesn't mean that they're just working the same, but
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  Speaker 3: doing more private and less public.
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  Speaker 2: Still, the province says about 400 Alberta doctors have already
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  Speaker 2: expressed interest in the new dual practice system. But there
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  Speaker 2: are also concerns that the new law will violate the
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  Speaker 2: Canada Health Act, creating unequal access to health care.
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  Speaker 4: The care will depend not on the need of folks
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  Speaker 4: in the province. but really on their ability to pay.
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  Speaker 2: And across Canada, worries that Alberta's new law could impact
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  Speaker 2: other provinces too.
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  Speaker 3: And if it happens in Alberta, it's going to create
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  Speaker 3: a gravitational pull. It is going to push up the
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  Speaker 3: cost for doctors. It is going to create an insurance market.
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  Speaker 2: These protesters looking for the federal government to step in.
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  Speaker 2: For its part, Ottawa says it is in contact with
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  Speaker 2: Alberta about the new law, writing in a statement that
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  Speaker 2: the two governments will work closely to ensure the principles
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  Speaker 2: of the Canada Health Act are respected. Aaron Collins, CBC News, Calgary.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, well, my next guest isn't eligible for dual practice
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  Speaker 1: under Alberta's Bill 11, but he still supports the framework. Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Rohan Basundath joins me now. He's a family physician in Calgary.
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  Speaker 4: Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Basundath, thank you for your time. I'm interested to hear
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  Speaker 1: from somebody who does want to speak in favor of
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  Speaker 1: this model and why.
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  Speaker 4: Sure, thanks for having me. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm
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  Speaker 4: speaking in favor of it, but I'm certainly open to
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  Speaker 4: trying something because what we're doing now isn't working. Our
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  Speaker 4: wait times are too long. And if we can try something,
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  Speaker 4: innovate potentially, and it works, that's great. Maybe it's something
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  Speaker 4: we grow. But I think it's very important that we
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  Speaker 4: measure where we're at right now and then measure closely
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  Speaker 4: as we move forward and look at outcomes. And I
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  Speaker 4: think the government is committed to that.
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  Speaker 1: So as a family doctor, as I said, you're not
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  Speaker 1: eligible under this bill, but this would impact perhaps other
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  Speaker 1: doctors that you might forward patients to. Is that right?
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  Speaker 1: And what are you hearing from your patients on this? Sure.
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  Speaker 4: You know, I think, again, all of us will have
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  Speaker 4: a bit of a bias depending on our bubble, but
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  Speaker 4: people are excited. They know we need to change. We
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  Speaker 4: know something needs to happen, that the status quo isn't working.
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  Speaker 4: And if we innovate and try a different approach, a
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  Speaker 4: different model, or expanding the model we have, then people
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  Speaker 4: seem to be quite positive about it.
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  Speaker 1: Listening to Aaron Collins' item that we just played here
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  Speaker 1: before you and I were discussing, we heard a doctor
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  Speaker 1: in that pack say that this really only works if
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  Speaker 1: those surgeons are willing to, I guess, work extra, right?
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  Speaker 1: Because there's a finite resource here. Is that what you
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  Speaker 1: anticipate is going to happen? And how much overtime can,
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  Speaker 1: I'm assuming, people who are already working pretty hard right
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  Speaker 1: now in the current system, can they actually do?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's one of the biggest challenges that
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  Speaker 4: we really have to look at is, you know, we
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  Speaker 4: don't have a dual workforce. So people will be potentially
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  Speaker 4: splitting time between the two systems. Hopefully, we're going to
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  Speaker 4: draw more physicians, more surgeons into the province and a
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  Speaker 4: greater workforce. We'll need nurses, anesthetists, respiratory technicians as well.
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  Speaker 4: But I think it's one of those things we're going
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  Speaker 4: to have to look at. Obviously, surgeons want the best
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  Speaker 4: outcome for their patients. They're extremely responsible. And they won't
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  Speaker 4: be operating outside of times they shouldn't be. As it
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  Speaker 4: is right now, I think one of the restrictions, limitations,
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  Speaker 4: is just operating room time. And if there's more operating
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  Speaker 4: room time available and it's safe for them to operate,
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  Speaker 4: we'll see how it goes.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but is there more operating room time? At this point,
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  Speaker 1: there isn't. You know.
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  Speaker 4: I'm not the one to be able to comment on that,
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  Speaker 4: but I don't think, and that's why we're going to
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  Speaker 4: have to measure. We don't want wait times getting longer.
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  Speaker 4: And if that's happening, that's one metric they need to
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  Speaker 4: look at. We don't want wait times getting longer, wait
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  Speaker 4: lists growing. And if that's happening, then we need to
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  Speaker 4: reassess what we're doing. But if we do this, we
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  Speaker 4: measure it, and outcomes are improving in the direction we
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  Speaker 4: hope they will, which means, you know, number one, wait
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  Speaker 4: times decreasing significantly. because where they are right now, they're unacceptable.
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  Speaker 4: I think it's a matter of measuring where we are, wait,
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  Speaker 4: measure as we go along, be very open about it.
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  Speaker 4: And I think the government is committed to being open
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  Speaker 4: with their numbers.
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  Speaker 1: I hope this does not sound crass when I ask
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  Speaker 1: it this way, but in order to, you know, have
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  Speaker 1: more doctors, is the idea that your doctors might be
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  Speaker 1: lured to the province because there would be an opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to make more money?
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  Speaker 4: Uh, I think they might have more opportunity to be
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  Speaker 4: flexible in how they work. And I think opening up
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  Speaker 4: opportunities for people is never a bad thing. I don't
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  Speaker 4: think we want to necessarily lure people away from other provinces,
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  Speaker 4: as it is now. We have a lot of interprovincial
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  Speaker 4: exchange of physicians for various reasons.
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  Speaker 1: I'm assuming that you're familiar with the Canby surgeries case
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  Speaker 1: that went all the way to the Supreme Court, right?
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  Speaker 1: Out of British Columbia and was lost. And this was
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  Speaker 1: a clinic that wanted to provide private health care and
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  Speaker 1: argued that the public system wasn't offering the right to Canadians.
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  Speaker 1: But as I say, lost. How do you see this
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  Speaker 1: as being different? I mean, of course, we're talking about
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  Speaker 1: provincial legislation.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and... I want to give you my best Star
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  Speaker 4: Trek line, but I'm a doctor, not a lawyer. And
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  Speaker 4: I think there's much smarter people, provincially and federally, who
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  Speaker 4: can work together to make sure that we're abiding by
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  Speaker 4: the Canada Health Act.
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  Speaker 1: Do you, have you, as I say, you are a
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  Speaker 1: family doctor, potentially your patients could be affected and maybe
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  Speaker 1: get surgeries quicker under this model. That's what you're hoping,
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  Speaker 1: I suppose. Have you had any pushback from any of
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  Speaker 1: your patients who have said that this doesn't, you know,
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  Speaker 1: feel like it's what we would normally be allowed to do?
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  Speaker 4: I think most of what I hear is hope because
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  Speaker 4: wait lists are extremely long right now and People who
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  Speaker 4: want to leave the province or leave the country for
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  Speaker 4: surgery are doing so right now. And that's potentially shortening
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  Speaker 4: the wait list. I just think it's really important that
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  Speaker 4: we be calm. I hear some very passionate people out there.
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  Speaker 4: And of course, we're passionate about health care. We want,
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  Speaker 4: number one, what's best for patients. The status quo isn't
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  Speaker 4: what's best for patients right now. And I think it's
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  Speaker 4: very important that we, again, measure where we're at today,
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  Speaker 4: measure where we're at month to month, six months out,
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  Speaker 4: a year out, two years out, and make sure we're
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  Speaker 4: moving in the right direction.
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  Speaker 2: Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Rohan Basundath, a family physician in Calgary. Dr. Basundath, thank
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  Speaker 1: you very much.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you.