The Lucknow Sentinel, 1982-04-28, Page 7T.V.ANTENNA SERVICE
Serving the
Lucknow, Kincardine
and Area for over
25. years
• .
RR.3, HANOVER
• N4N 3B9
•
opinion
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, April 28$ 1912—Page 7
Four Junior Farmer members -wW be ylsIting the United
Kingdom from May 1 to July 2 after winning the
travelling Agriculture and Food. Dr. Clare Rennie, assistant
deputy minister, Ontario Ministry , of Agriculture. itnd
Food [centre) congratulates the winners [I - r] Dale Van
Comp, R. # 1, Blackstock; Mary WI Weiser, IL # 3,
Ayton; Mary Emile, R. # 3, Holyrood; and Gerty Van
•Gurp, R. # 3, Chesterville.
A
Doctors: A. view from the firing line
Disputes over fees between doctors
and the government in some provinces'
have resulted In the withdrawal of
• ielected services by some doctors.
Thin is the view of a: rural Ontario
family doitor.
By Alexander Mitelntyre
The problem with all medicare plans
is the insatiable demand by their users
for every service, everywhere, at once,
and at little cost. Medicare is threat:
• ened by this tyranny of freedoin from
all stress, ail diicipline, and all effort.
And the problem is aggravated bjr the
interference of ' politicians and the
• media.
My reflections are those of a 'rdral
Ontario practioner who enjoys, and
• sometimes endures, a work schedule
that is by no means unique. Daily
duties must be performed regardless
of the calls of the previous night.
Doctors in my area provide 24-houf
service 365 days a year, on a rotating
basis, in a' busy hospital lacking
specialist care. The normal work week
is 65 hours and includes attention to
real and imagined emergencies, obst-
• etrical cases and aid .to colleagues at
any time of .the day or night.
Doctors are underpaid because
government have reneged: If doctors
in 1982 are worth the same as their
1972 counterparts,. then a catchup Is'
indicated, according to figures out-
lined in the 1982 report by Paul C.
Weiler, chairman of the joint commit-
• tee on Physicians' Compensation for
Professional Services. In 1971', the
Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)
paid 90% of Ontario Medical Asso-
ciation (OMA) fees. Today, it pays
only 70%. In the past decade, the
annual increases in doctors' fees have
averaged 5.6%. In that same time
span, the average industrial wage has
increased 100%, the consumer price
index has risen by 80% and doctors'
incomes have gone up only 42%.
•,OHIP pays me roughly $20 an hour
before tax, There is no standby pay,
• no holiday pay, sick pay or pension.
• As Weiler says in his report, it is'
hard to come up with precise figures
for doctors' incomes, in order to make
an accurate comparisioin with other'
•
professional groups. In any event,
other professionals could easily sur-
pass our incomes by working our
• hours. Doctors receive S25 for 2 a.m.
problems. Lawyers would probably
charge • more. ,Ontario MPPs and
federal MPs recently granted them-
selves 22:4% and 47% increases,
respectively. Certain salaried Ministry
of Health doctors straight out of
internships receive $54,000 plus bene-
fits for a 37 -hour week.
• Let's take a look at my account
books. Here are some examples of
typical fee. The first figure is the
approved OHIP payment (based on
1981 fees); the number in brackets is
• the net payment after overheads and
personal tax deductions: office call
$9.45 ($3.82), house call $17.85($7.21)
Caesarean section S154.10 (S62.63),
tonsillectomy $70.00 ($28.27), gall
bladder removal $273.15 ($110.45),
• total obstetrical • care S280.20
($114.77).
These funds don't go far in paying
for other services. Seven house calls
will pay the Chimney sweep (S50), but
not the Bell Canada technician ($75).
Six Caesarian sections will get my car
painted ($350). Office visits at a maxi-
mum rate of five per hour may pay
• my carpenter's hourly wage but not
• my mechanic's ($20 an hour), in
Alliston, Ontario.
•The .OHIP plan is all too frequently
• abused. There are office calls for
trivialities, for sick • notes, and for
• Class A drivers' medical. It is'
estimated that 50% emergency calls
are unnecessary and cost taxpayers an
extra $100 million a year. Use of Our.
emergency , department has doubled
since 1971. These emergencies often
• include weekold colds and bruises,
and. Sunday lunch time demands for
extensive investigation of old prob-
lems, which could easily be dealt with
in a normal office call. The hassle is
endless. •
A government bureaucracy is not
the ideal *ay to run a medicare
system. Such a system relies too much
on politicians vagaries such as the
defeat of a minority government,
•federal -provincial infighting, or the
policies 6f a power-hungry bureaucrat.
• And the real 'control lies in Treasury
Board hands far removedlrom oatient
•
care. Doctor bashing is counter-pro-
ductive. Doctors and politicians should
not be adversaries in the system. ln
such a system, the sick always take
second place. \
• Option •
• Some countries have learned their
lessons. Britain has Vastly improved
patient care by allowing private in-
surance to compete with the ,National
Health Service. The same option
should be available here..
To keep our medical system func-
tioning at its present level, additional
funding is needed. At 7.3 % of GNP
our spending on medical care is the
second lowest in the Western world.
Health insurance fees should be
increased. Patients should be made to
contribute the additional $100 million
cost of unnecessary emergency visits
At a rate of $30-$50 a time. Legislation
could force large corporations to pick
up the tab for assessing whether
employees are too ill to work. Govern-
ments should relinquish direct control
of the medical system to private
industry or to an autonomous board.
I'd "like to end with an invitation:
Any politician or media quarterback is
invited to join my family for a "duty
weekend," including theEaster,,May,
September and Christmas holidays. I
will see that they are disturbed day
and night by every call (96 on the
August 1, 1981, 'weekend). Work
begins at 8 p.m. Friday and ends
Tuesday at 10 p.m. They could deal at
2 a.n. with the week-old bruised shin
or with the drunken relatives asking,
"What's the darned doctor doing?"
Then we could discuss the problems
of medical plans, of overpaid doctors
and of pigs that fly!
• Alexander Maclntyre, a family
physician in Alliston, Ontario, left the
UnWersity of Toronto on a scholarship
to' Oxford in 1951, and returned to
Canada ,in 1970. He has held positions
in Oxford, Heidelberg, Harvard; and
the Sorbonne Universities, and obtain-
ed the F.R.C.S. (England and Edin-
burgh). He was a consultant in the
National Health Service in Britain for
seven years.
DOUG HARKER
Phone 364-5005
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HYBRID
Seed Corn
Mitchell Bros.
Tom and Maurke
'R. R. # 1
IN STOCK
•RX 383 RX 295
RX 36 RX 38
Phone 395-2447 •
Ripley
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•
APPLICATIONS
'WILL BE RECEIVED BY
• Lucknow Recreation
Committee •
• FOR
Playground Leaders
In Conjunction with the Morning
Swimming Program
• also
Roller Skating Supervisors
Applicants are Required to Apply•
In Writing, Stating QUallifiCati01115 •
By May 4th
WILLIAM R. HUNTER
Lucknow Recreation Committee
Box 32, Lucknow, Ontario
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•
• DOG., . i
OWNERS
: ..:
The Village of Lucknow has authorized
an Animal Control' Officer to patrolon a
regular basis.
• ALL DOGS MUST BE LICENSED!
: Licenses will be available at the
Municipal Office on and after May 5,
• 1982.
•
LUCKNOW
VILLAGE
COUNCIL
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