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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2014-11-19, Page 1414 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, November 19, 2014 Thompson and interim PC leader host family health team roundtable Valerie Gillies Lucknow Sentinel Huron -Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson hosted a Family Health Team Roundtable with interim leader and for- mer Health Minister Jim Wil- son on Nov. 12 at the Bel - grave Community Centre. Thompson quipped that if anyone was wondering why Belgrave, "If you look at the map of Huron -Bruce, it is the closest place to the centre of the area with a community centre' The invited guests around the table represented seven family health teams (FHT) throughout the riding includ- ing Maitland Valley, Brockton and Area, Bluewater Area, Clinton, Huron Community, North Huron and Kincardine. The stated purpose of the meeting was to get input directly from the service pro- viders as to what needs to hap- pen to sustain health care in rural Ontario. As the meeting progressed there were several opportunities for each team to have their say as the questions were directed around the table. The overall biggest prob- lem identified and agreed to by all teams is the inequity in compensation between FHT staff and Community Care Access Centres (CCAC). Both are under the same ministry, but FTH receives 20 per cent funding while CCAC receives 25 per cent funding which automatically sets up a com- petition the FTH have no way of winning. Officials from the FHTs said the inequity in wages and sal- aries sets the health team up for bullying between doctors and nurse practitioners and causes a riff in the community it serves. People are angry at not being able to attract and retain health care staff but there is nothing they can do about it as any action they take immediately to woo pro- fessionals would not be allowed to be reversed in the future when the problem is corrected, leaving teams stuck with incentives they can no longer afford. The second most debilitat- ing issue for FTH is the ina- bility for the FTH boards to make decisions that would benefit their team as their hands are tied by Ministry guidelines - which extends to the annual budgets. Adding to the confusion is that there are three models of FHT boards in operation: provider led, community led and mixed with both provid- ers and community mem- bers. The lack of an overall model means that there are no guidelines or continuity built in to the FHT system. The majority is in the pro- vider led category which leads to a much different perspective than the com- munity led teams. The main issue with the annual budgets is the lack of control by the FHT to deter- mine what is best for their particular circumstances and community. They are required to staywithin budget while having the budget areas inflexible in that if there is a surplus in one category they are not allowed to move those funds to cover a deficit in another category. An overrid- ing factor is that the province claws back any surplus funds from the preceding year. For example, if a team is short of a specific type of health care worker, the salary for that worker is not used for that year. In the following year the province claws back the amount not used which then puts the FHT in the position of not being able to fill that posi- tion in the future as the funds are lost. T According to conversation from the roundtable, this loss is then felt across the entire budget as there is less funding overall. To try to overcome this hurdle, many FHT are advised at the end of the fis- cal year to quickly find ways of spending money to avoid losing it, while staying within the categories in the budget. Some teams advised that it could be as hectic as being told they have 24 hours to spend a set amount of money, have receipts from the suppli- ers in their hands and pro- cessed through the system. This takes away opportunity for research, planning, obtain- ing bids or even going for the best deal as it sometimes comes down to going with the supplier who can provide the immediate receipt and makes it impossible to keep a cush- ion of funds for identified needs. In essence, FHT offi- cials said they are being penalized for being efficient. When asked what would make the most difference for the FHT going forward, other than compensation, it was agreed that more staff was needed across all teams. In zeroing in on the high- est need it was explained that there is no way for any- one to have someone to cover for them for holidays, sick days, meetings, training and such as there is just nobody on staff who is not already working their full schedule. There is also a very great need for more staff to serve patients who do not have their own family doctor Valerie Gillies, Lucknow Sentinel Representatives of seven Family Health Teams (FHT) throughout Huron -Bruce participated in a roundtable hosted by MPP Lisa Thompson and interim leader Jim Wilson in Belgrave on Nov. 12. The FHT included Maitland Valley, Brockton and Area, Bluewater Area, Clinton, Huron Community, North Huron and Kincardine. and for those with mental health issues. This plays out as too long of wait times for social work and access to nurse practitioners. Both Thompson and Wil- son expressed shock when FHT officials advised them are frustrated with having to fill out questionnaires for funding from the province that they feel do not even address the reality of the field. The questions are broad which makes many of the answers ambiguous, giv- ing poor data. Another surprise is that not all statistics are included in reports to the province. Only statistics on doctor and nurse practitioner visits are counted. Many patient care services will never show up in those statistics, the most glaring of which is the num- ber of people on the wait lists as orphan patients. Thompson and Wilson concluded by promising that they will take these concerns back with them to the Legislature. Thompson pointed out that "I am incredibly impressed with rural health care compared to urban. There is a lack of health care but it is prompt and caring." Wilson advised that the fastest and most effective way to make changes to the legis- lation regarding FHT is to have everyone's friends, fami- lies and clients send letters and e-mails to everyone in political office they can think of and to collect petitions from clients. Thompson offered to draft a petition for use by the teams through her office. Both emphasized that the changes being made to legis- lation surrounding mental health have come about due to the heart -wrenching stories of individuals received and read by MPPs. It is these individual stories that need to be sent by those who are served by the FHT, Thompson and Wilson said. All are read and many will be read into parliament to educate those in power that rural health care is very dif- ferent from urban and they need to be treated as separate entities, the PC MPPs said. Wilson advised that, although e-mails do not have to be answered, petitions do have to be answered within 24 days, even if it turns out to be a non -answer. Thompson and Wilson are determined to bring the issues facing rural FHTS to the forefront. "If we are not on top of it, it will spiral like energy has and the government must be held accountable," Thomp- son said. POLICE BRIEFS Intersection crash currently under investigation HURON EAST - Huron County OPP officers are currently investigat- ing a two vehicle collision that occurred at the intersection of Kippen Road and Morrison Line just before 3 p.m. on Nov. 12. Preliminary investigation has revealed an SUV was northbound on Mor- rison Line when it collided with a Peterbilt semi -tractor trailer that was westbound on Kippen Road. The driver and lone occupant of the SUV, a 34 -year-old Zurich man, was transported by land ambulance to a local hospital. As of press time, he remains in hos- pital with life threatening injuries. The driver and lone occupant of the transport truck was uninjured. OPP West Region Technical Traf- fic Collision Investigators (TTCI) was on scene investigating. The cause of the crash is cur- rently under investigation. Police are asking anyone with infor- mation regarding this collision should immediately contact Huron County OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Man injured by tractor MORRIS-TURNBERRY - A 67 -year- old Morris-Turnberry man remains in hospital with serious injuries fol- lowing an accident with a tractor. In incident occurred on Nov. 10 at 12:40 p.m. At that time, Huron OPP offic- ers, Huron EMS paramedics and North Huron Fire Depart- ment firefighters responded to a farm property located on Glenannon Road to assist. Emergency responders attended the scene and located the injured man, who was trapped beneath a run- ning farm tractor. He had been work- ing underneath the tractor when it went into gear and ran him over. The injured male was transported to a hospital in London by air ambu- lance where he remains in hos- pital with serious injuries. Stolen truck found destroyed by fire CENTRAL HURON — Police are cur- rently investigating the theft and subsequent arson of a pickup truck stolen from a Princess Street East residence in Clinton. On Nov. 9, Huron OPP offic- ers were contacted by the pickup truck owner. A neigh- bour of the victim reported she observed a suspect leave in the truck on Nov. 8, between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. The suspect was described as a male wearing a bright orange hunting jacket. Two days after the theft, the truck was found on a trail close to Con- servation Line at the Hullett Wild- life Conservation Area and had sus- tained extensive fire damage. Any person with information regard- ing this incident should immedi- ately contact Huron OPP at 1-888- 310-1122 or (519) 524-8314.