| ||||||||||||
|
Health Care |
||||||
|
Notes for remarks by Sandra Edwards Thank you, Patrick. We have asked you here to once again bring attention to the disgraceful state that the Ministry of Health is operating their Land and Air Ambulance Communication Dispatch Centre’s. You have heard today about the chronic staff shortages and that many people would still be alive today, if only ,we were allowed to give dispatch assisted CPR instructions over the phone. In Toronto, funded 100 per cent by the Ministry of Health, but operated under the City Of Toronto, the dispatchers do provide and are compensated for providing pre-arrival instructions to callers. Does this mean some how that the people of the big city of Toronto, home of Queen’s Park, are more valuable than the rest of the citizens of Ontario? There have been many reports filed over the years with the Cabinet. One in particular points to the fact that we have a 30 per cent retention rate in our ambulance dispatch centres. Yes, that is a 30 per cent retention rate, not a turn over rate. I would like to know how the people in the Ivory Tower of the Management Board Secretariat can sleep at night, knowing full well how they are putting in jeopardy the lives of the people of Ontario, especially at a time when seconds do count. The people of Ontario deserve to have a seasoned professional at the other end of the telephone to guide them through what is one of the most critical and probably one of the worst nightmares of their lives when they are desperately calling for help in a medical emergency, for themselves or for a loved one. This is not calling to save property or to protect the same. This is life and death. The IBI Report, completed in October of 2001, withheld from the general public and OPSEU until after a new contract was negotiated in 2002, due to the fact that it would have a “direct impact on bargaining”. This report reinforced the concerns of the front line workers to the employer about the shortfalls of the system. Then there is the recent Request For Proposals. Tendered by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care for the privatized Ambulance Communication Centre in Niagara. Where the MOH under the Conservative government demanded from the respondents “Innovative Solutions to the issue of staff recruitment and retention.” We say “ Give the new recruits the initiative and incentive to stay.” We also say rescind this RFP and keep this emergency service in the public safety net. I also have here an old list, it’s a year old now, so we don’t know how much longer this list is today. This is a request from Nov./2002 under the Freedom of Information Act. It is a four page list of 40 documents and reports went to Cabinet. For your information, just like the secrecy around the IBI report, every single one of these documents was denied to us. We extensively lobbied the Liberals and NDP during the past year. We received from them amazing understanding, sympathy and support. Mr. Ken Boshcoff, Mayor of Thunder Bay, Chair of the Association of the Municipalities of Ontario, had written Mr Eves on our behalf. Mr Jim Bradley, now Minister of Tourism and Recreation, has gone on record in the Hansard on Nov 18, 2002, saying he wished that he could fit ambulance dispatch service into the Consumer Protection Statute Law Amendment Act, 2002. Mr Bradley said: “The poor people working in the dispatch centres are working under very, very difficult circumstances; antiquated equipment, a workload which is far too high, often training which is not adequate and often lack of compensation that would keep people there in a stressful job for a period of time. This bill does not protect that particular service.” Mr. David Christopherson stood up in the house on May 6, 2002 to say: “That because of the poor wages and the wage differential and I’m talking $10 to $20 k a year, they then move on to the fire or police world where dispatchers are paid what they are worth.” We invited the authors of the government commissioned IBI report to join us, but they have declined. This crisis in ambulance dispatch is the legacy of the Conservative government. They have dropped this critical issue, your health, your lives into the hands of our new government. We are hopefully optimistic that our new government will immediately put the heart back into health care and pave the way for your first contact with medical intervention. We say, let’s mend the holes in your public safety net. Thank you. Keep well, keep safe.
Air and Land Ambulance Dispatch Campaign Index
|
|||||
Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 100 Lesmill Rd. Toronto, ON M3B 3P8 (416) 443-8888 www.opseu.org |
|
|
Questions about technical content or comments on this site may be directed to the webmaster. |
|
News Pages | How to join OPSEU | Ontario Public Service | Broader Public Service | Community Colleges | Contact Us | Grievance Awards Database | Search | Francais |
