Category: Politics

Andre Picard is brilliant. After several decades of reporting on Canadian healthcare, he knows doctors shrivel at the slightest reprimand.

Doctors value respect. Accuse them of behaving shamefully and watch docs slink away, tails between their legs.

Picard scolded doctors for complaining about cuts and caps on healthcare spending. Grow up doctors. Stop talking about your income. You embarrass us with your entitlement. And one other thing, stop attacking Minister Hoskins on social media. You ought to know better.

Isn’t that precious? A journalist scolds doctors for talking about income.

Premier Wynne and Minister Hoskins misrepresented doctors’ incomes from their first declaration of war. All major media outlets delight to print physicians’ gross billings.

Granted, honest reporters bury an explanation about gross versus net billings in the unread darkness near the end of their columns. Like CPR 20 minutes after cardiac arrest, it’s too late. Readers got the intended wrong message in the first paragraph.

Be sure of this, doctors hate discussing income. They learned in grade school that achievement draws envy. Better to stay quiet.

But after months of repeating lies like “Physician’s average income is $360k” and “Doctors got a 61% raise,” doctors have had enough. They cannot look any worse by telling their side of the income story. So individual doctors have tried to correct glaring errors.

How entitled of them!

Mr. Picard also shamed doctors for picking on Minister Hoskins. Picard must have some egregious example in mind. If it was enough to warrant copy in a national newspaper, I hope it paled the sneering attacks and snide criticism journalists write about politicians every day.

Maybe doctors shared rude pictures? Perhaps they dared to attempt a political cartoon? You know, the ones media uses that make the most confident people question their self image?

Yes, Mr. Picard is brilliant. He knows the best way to douse the fire the Liberals sparked with their latest cuts to healthcare. He knows about the 11,000 members that sprang up on a Facebook page 2 weeks ago: Ontario MDs Concerned About Continued Funding Cuts.

He must try to settle doctors down. His favourite politicians are in trouble. Who knows what might happen if doctors upset the public with the truth? I guess we can’t blame him for trying.

photo credit: www.theglobeandmail.com

Politicians confront impossible decisions. Do they fund education or healthcare? Do they fix poverty or illiteracy?

Our leaders live out Sophie’s Choice all the time, one child goes to die and the other lives.

At least that’s what you’re supposed to think.

Meryl Streep won an academy award as Sophie. She chose her son, Jan, for the children’s camp. Her daughter, Eva, went to the gas chambers. Watch the movie.

Healthcare versus Windmills

Premier Wynne and Health Minister Hoskins deserve an award, too. They insist that the only way to pay for teachers and nurses is to cut doctors.

They say doctors got a raise. That’s like saying school enrolment went up so we hired hundreds more teachers, which produced a raise for teachers.

Politicians repeat it so often; we must assume they think voters stupid enough to believe it.

Moral philosophy classes used to be taught using impossible moral dilemmas.

“Suppose a train is approaching 2 tracks and must choose one.

Your only daughter plays on one track, and a school bus full of children sits stalled across the tracks on the other line.

You control a switch to send the train down either track.

The train has no brakes.

Which track do you choose?”

Wynne and Hoskins face a dilemma: cut projects like Wind Turbines, or fund healthcare. But it’s not a moral dilemma. They face a personal dilemma, a challenge of integrity.

Do they admit bad decisions, or do they put a hard cap on healthcare?

Patients want to know. Will the system be there for me when I need it, as I get older? Patients can see that caps on spending won’t hurt immediately. They understand that it will take time.

Arbitration, Not Legislation

Doctors will not act against patients. They will always care for their own. But doctors will not accept more complex, elderly patients.

They cannot.

The province penalizes doctors for seeing more, providing more care. The province claws back doctors’ billing for seeing more patients. The province put a hard cap on medical spending.

We can do better than this. We can build a system that’s great for patients and fair for doctors and nurses. We need to start with patient needs at the center.

• What will the aging baby boomers need?
• How can we plan to meet their medical needs?
• Does cutting doctors now help us meet those needs?

Everyone makes mistakes. Politicians need a wide swath of grace. We’d all screw-up if we were in office. That’s why we elect politicians, not actors. We elect character, not panache.

It is government’s responsibility to get back to table and fix this mess. Get an agreement with doctors.

Doctors cannot strike. They can only take legal action as a proxy for job action. And doctors will do it. We have no other choice. It will take years to settle. Let’s hope it happens before cuts hurt patients. Let’s hope Premier Wynne wakes up and starts funding healthcare versus windmills.

photo credit: news.ontario.ca

Doctors want blood. They got hit again, and no one seems to care.

The Liberals cut 4.45% this year already, with more to come. But patients have not seen a change in service.

Patients will feel the rigid cap on spending in 3-4 years, long after Premier Wynne leaves for a new social agenda.

Doctors want action, now.

Doctors’ Action Plan

Many doctors ask, What can I do?

Buried in dozens of emails, I try to share this general message:

• Be bold.
• Take action.
• Accept risk.  
• Build alliances. 
• Inspire others.

Be Bold

Bold does not mean angry or stupid. Bold means not fearful or hesitant in the face of possible or actual danger.

Anger and stupidity blind us to danger. Boldness steps forward with eyes open. Doctors need to know what they are stepping into. Talk to others. Listen to stories about other fights with government. Know the danger. But do not hesitate.

Take Action

We are all different. Some people write. Others talk. Doctors need to find that kind of action most suited to their identity, their character.

Some doctors write research papers for fun. For them, writing a scathing academic analysis seems like a great ‘job action’.

We cannot expect all doctors to take the same action. It would feel odd. The first action should look different than the final action. Save some cards to play later.

Action does not mean harming patients or lying in the streets. Doctors cannot strike.

Accept Risk

Failure, even the thought of failure, immobilizes most doctors.

Activism does not come with a multiple choice test at the end. You cannot plan to get an A+.

You will stumble. You will make mistakes, offend others by accident and generally cause yourself pain.

There are no perfect messages or perfect ways to attract attention. Just get as much advice as you can, then be bold and take action.

Build Alliances

We achieve more together. Political parties, rock bands, churches and social movements rarely survive as one group. They divide and sub-divide.

We do not need to agree on everything. Alliances topple regimes. We need a strong alliance (union?) to fight tyranny.

Inspire Others

Pick 1 or 2 things that really bug you. Double-check your facts. Second guess your motives. Then make your simple message public.

People love authenticity; they cannot look away.

Use your message to inspire others. Don’t bother inspiring people you do not like. Inspire those close to you, people you’d want to see anyways.

 

Doctors are angry. Now we need to focus. Re-check our vision. Look for advice and partnerships. Then act boldly knowing that we will not be perfect.

No one can tell you what one thing you must do. The OMA can hire lawyers and expert media firms. They need our support, but real change comes as we convince one person at a time.

We can start with those closest to us.

Do you want your care capped?

Do you support a rigid limit on how much medical care patients get?

If not, why not help us pressure the Liberals to negotiate with Ontario’s doctors?

photo credit: telegraph.co.uk