Your editorial of Nov. 30 needs a little homework.
Tommy Douglas introduced the notion of universal health care to Canada in the 1960s.
In a nutshell, the basic tenet of this man's brilliant concept was that of universal responsibility. This means full responsibility by both the users and the providers.
A powerful concept.
News of this reached my ears in 1968. I was about to enter medical school in Ireland as the first (somewhat proud) of the third generation to enter medical school. My uncle (a physician in Saskatchewan) had been in practice in Ireland, the National Medical system in England (NHS) and in remote areas of Africa.
His brief summation of the events unfolding about health-care delivery in his adopted province was "They may have got it right. Keep an eye on Canada."
I came to do a locum in Port Alice on Vancouver island in 1976. I was impressed.
I returned to Canada in 1978 and took over a full-service family practice in Prince George.
I was even more impressed. In 1984 I was asked to present a comparison of the Irish system, the English system (the NHS) and that of Canada.
There was no comparison.
Canada was miles ahead of the other two systems that I had worked in.
Ironically, shortly after this seminar the Canada Health Act was rushed through Parliament.
This was just prior to a change from Liberal to Conservative governments
There was no real debate. My heart sank.
Here was a document promoting the very flaws existing in the Irish and English systems. Here were the seeds of destruction of Tommy Douglas's vision.
In 1984 if a patient was waiting longer than 30 minutes in the emergency department to be seen by a physician there was a system in place to investigate the delay.
There were no delays in investigations and minimal waiting lists for surgeries. Bed shortages were nonexistent. Clearly my premonitions of the downfall of the once great Canadian system were accurate.
Twenty-six years of worship to the Canada Health Act is enough.
The king has no clothes.
Please do not confuse Tommy Douglas's brilliance with a clearly flawed documentwhose introduction coincides with the demise of a once great system.
Yours sincerely,
Michael O'Malley
Prince George
