Health Ministers from across Canada concluded meetings in St. John's this week announcing progress on a number of initiatives which will improve Canada's publicly funded health system and ensure the system continues to serve Canadians well in the future.
The meeting was an opportunity for ministers to take stock of the progress achieved since September 2000, when First Ministers outlined their priorities and a vision for health.
Jamie Ballem, Prince Edward Island's Minister of Health and Social Services, said he was satisfied with the outcome of the meetings. "I'd always like to see initiatives move faster, but the agreements we reached will further help us achieve a higher quality, more sustainable health system," the minister said.
Ballem highlighted five areas of progress as being particularly important to Prince Edward Island: pharmaceutical issues, health human resources, primary care redesign, tobacco reduction, and improved information on health system quality and performance.
Minister Ballem said that the national agreement to establish a single, common review process for new drugs supports the position taken by Atlantic health ministers to ensure a common Atlantic decision on new drug listings. He also noted new initiatives involving best practices for drug prescribing and utilization and the establishment of a National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System. "These are important steps in ensuring good quality decisions on listing of new drugs which improve quality of life and cost-effective use of all drugs," he said.
Ballem said that recent consultations during the development of PEI's Health Strategy highlighted opportunities for primary health care redesign - the way doctors, nurses and other professionals provide health services in doctors' offices, community health centres and other settings. He said he is pleased that bilateral discussions with Health Canada on funding for PEI's plans in this area can now proceed.
"Many PEI physicians and nurses have personally expressed to me their interest in improving patient care through innovative collaborative practice models," said Ballem. He pointed to the recently opened Pap Screening Clinic in Cornwall as well as initiatives in Souris, Evangeline and Four Neighborhoods as existing examples.
On tobacco reduction, ministers released The National Strategy: Moving Forward, the 2001 Federal Provincial Territorial Progress Report on Tobacco Control. The report follows a joint tobacco control strategy endorsed at the September 1999 Conference of Ministers of Health in Charlottetown. Ballem said that the PEI Tobacco Reduction Alliance, joining community organizations with provincial health and education ministries, has been a key to PEI's tobacco use reduction success to date.
Health Human Resource issues captured considerable attention at the ministers' meeting. Minister Ballem said that training, recruitment and retention of health professionals remains an important national priority. He added that it is also becoming clear that appropriate models of care and ensuring health professionals are working to the upper end of their skill and training are essential aspects of a sustainable health care system.
Commenting on the special meeting of premiers on health, proposed for January 2002, Ballem said that ensuring health systems are making best use of public funds and getting the best results for patients will be an important focus. He said that the adage, "You can't manage what you can't measure" is particularly appropriate in the health field and that better information systems are key to cost control and high quality health care.
The minister observed that the Canadian Health System will continue to evolve in response to public expectations, new technologies and innovation. "When I listen to my colleagues from across Canada, I can't help but realize that the positive relationships we have with our health professionals, community organizations, unions and regional health authorities in Prince Edward Island are invaluable in embracing change and building for the future," he concluded.