Health Committee on Nov. 16th, 2011

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

I want to follow up with some information on the question that my colleague across the way asked about assisted suicide.

An all-party parliamentary committee was struck a year and a half ago, the Parliamentary Committee on Compassionate and Palliative Care. We were looking at four different areas and the report is going to be released in the next few days. It's something that I'm hoping most of you will read. You could go to the website if you don't get your hands on a copy. I think it will help to inform the debate that needs to happen, and address some of the issues that you raised.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Does anybody want to comment? That's fine.

Welcome back, Mrs. Mathyssen. It's your turn now.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses very much for their informative and important testimony today. I'm very confident that it will help us to move forward in a significant and meaningful way. I'm also glad to hear you say that there's an important federal role in all of this, because we tend to say, "Oh well, health care is provincial". I too believe that there is a leadership role for parliamentarians, at this level of government, to play.

I'm the seniors critic for the NDP and we've been looking at the economic security of seniors. The last stats that we managed to gather say that 250,000 seniors live below the poverty line, and that least 154,000 of them are senior women. I'm very afraid that those numbers are escalating. In terms of that statistic and in terms of supporting seniors and making sure they're safe, we're asking questions about affordable, supportive housing and the lack thereof. Seniors are pushed out of their homes. There are not enough appropriate long-term care facilities, and they're very expensive. And there's a real dilemma.

Would you support—in addition to the information that you've provided in so many other areas—a national housing strategy that looked at the needs of those in our community who simply don't have appropriate housing?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Who would like to have some input on that?

Ms. Laurent.

[Régine Laurent]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Several organizations in Quebec—including our own—are campaigning for the building of public housing. We would like to have public housing that is better suited to seniors' needs. In other words, seniors would be provided with minimum care. That housing would have to be able to provide support to elderly people on a daily basis. We are campaigning for that type of housing.

I think that investment would quickly pay off because this initiative is a lot less expensive than keeping seniors in institutions. They would at least be at home in this type of housing.

I want to build on what Ms. Laurent said. She talked about mental health so eloquently. Living in communities and not being isolated does wonders for people's mental health. They are still part of society and don't feel like they've been cooped up somewhere.

I think that campaigning for public housing is a wonderful idea. Some people even make meals together in similar housing projects elsewhere. There are various ways seniors can socialize in such environments. This helps them maintain a very high quality of life and is not expensive for the health-care system.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

The possibilities are very exciting. We talked a great deal about prevention, making sure that people stayed healthy with good food, diet, and exercise. In that regard—and you touched on this a bit—the ability to have a service hub within a community so that seniors could access those services that would lead to a healthier lifestyle is something that I'm certainly looking at. I wonder about your response to that.

[Régine Laurent]

For instance, nurses could be brought closer to communities. We know that every community has a community centre. Why not provide follow-up to seniors through community centres?

We know that establishing this trust is important. We know that because, as professionals, we deal with chronic diseases within health care institutions. Why not have systematic follow-up in communities? That would be one way to prevent chronic diseases.

By following the person, we can ensure that they're taking their blood pressure medication and beta blockers properly. The INR for people taking Coumadin must be checked. Therefore, it is a matter of prevention. It enables people, even seniors, to take charge of their health, because they can. When we take the time to teach and follow up....

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you so much.

We have two more minutes.

Mr. Williamson, I will give it over to you.

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

I will be quick and skip my preamble.

Dr. Turnbull, you said something earlier that was like a V-8 moment. You said that you'd like to move some beds out to save some money so that you could serve patients better.

All too often the solution to health care in this country is more money. We have the second most expensive system in the world. Some things we do very well; others we don't. How do we push innovation? How does the federal government ensure that the provinces and health authorities are making choices that ensure that dollars are spent wisely and are addressing some of these issues?

If you're waiting for a bureaucrat in Ottawa to push those beds out the door, I suspect you'll be waiting forever.

[Dr. Jeffrey Turnbull]

I think we have a unique opportunity through the 2014 accord. There is an opportunity, when those transfers are committed, to ensure that they actually do have strings attached to them and that there's an accountability framework to ensure that meaningful change actually happens as a result of the transfers. I would argue that 2014 should be the beginning of a transformed health care system. Any investment we make in terms of transfers should come with accountability.

The accountability doesn't have to be from the province or territory to the federal government; it has to be from the province and territory to their citizens. We should insist that this innovation, this change that we're hoping will take place as a result of the transfers, be done in a transparent and accountable way and that it be based on national standards. I think it's a great opportunity.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Dr. Turnbull.

I want to say thank you again to the witnesses for your patience today and for your insightful testimony.

Thank you to the committee for your indulgence and for getting back here on time.

The meeting is adjourned.