The Politics of Medicine

I’m in the System and it’s driving me crazy.

Health care is driven by policy. The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care develops and administers policy. The hospitals develop unique policies which allow them to meet the conditions outlined by the Ministry. Managers, Directors and working groups at the hospital level fine-tune processes for their programs, and then implement change. The front-line workers deliver care. The process, from policy to patient care takes time. A long time.

In any organization, there is hierarchy: an intricate fabric of station, standing and self. It is a treacherous structure for an amateur like me to scale. Mistakes, I’ve made a few.

The assessment and approval of the gastric pacing device is being hampered by bureaucracy, inadequate influence and bruised feelings. Throughout these delays, I continue to suffer.

We encourage innovation. We support progress. Treatments evolve and the opportunities to use technology to treat disorders grow. But the willingness to use the results of these studies must exist so that the lives of patients improve.

Between 1996 and 2003, while I had the gastric pacemaker, I had been hospitalized one time; and it was not related to my gastroparesis. Since 2004, I have been an in-patient 4 times, and undergone 7 different procedures as an out-patient.

The delivery of health care in Ontario appears to be driven by budget, not necessarily patient need. It must be frustrating for workers in the health industry. It certainly is exasperating for the patient.

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