My apologies.
In the last goodbye protocol, there must be federal guidelines ensuring reasonable accommodation for Canadian families to have an appropriate bedside presence. Even if families are allowed in the same city, hospitals do not have a uniform bedside process, particularly at the end of life.
In our briefing, we have a first-hand account of an ICU nurse detailing the mental health pains that families go through from this lack of clarity at end of life. Provided that sufficient resources such as personal protective equipment are available, hospitals must allow culturally sensitive and safe opportunities for some family to be present for critically ill patients.
The basic idea is that during COVID we had patients whose family maybe were in the hospital but could not say goodbye to their family member. We have PPE now. We can educate patients on how to do this safely. The mental health outcomes of not being there for a proper last rites ritual have long-standing repercussions and must be addressed for the mental health of Canadians moving forward through COVID.
Number three, there must be a federal mandate for virtual care under the Canada Health Act. This would protect virtual/phone billing codes for primary care and mental health physicians to ensure accessibility, comprehensiveness and portability of mental health care for Canadians. This mandate must consider that physicians licensed to work in Canada may be displaced during the pandemic but are still able to provide virtual treatment.
For example, a physician in Saskatchewan is able to call patients in Saskatchewan. If that physician is displaced during the pandemic and is in Ontario, that physician should still be able to call the Saskatchewan patients in order to provide care. This will ensure continuity and consistency with the Canada Health Act. So far, Saskatchewan operates like that, but Ontario doesn't. That is why there must be a federal mandate.
In point number six in our recommendations are the end-of-the-tunnel health strategies. What we require is a federally mandated and federally managed national COVID-19 vaccine program. Provincial distribution would be subject to possible inequitable distribution amongst the most vulnerable, and when that is seen by numbers of Canadians, that can really adversely affect mental health. We already see how the mental health of Canadians deteriorates given that they see other people flouting public health guidelines or not following masking mandates. Imagine what will occur if there is not a transparent, equitable process for a national COVID-19 vaccine program.
Immunizations for COVID-19, when available, must be equitably distributed at no cost; this includes the elderly and the immunocompromised. This must be paired with a modern countrywide surveillance system to ensure proper calculations of response and attack rates, immunity and outbreaks. The reason it is federal and not provincial is to ensure transparency as well as consistency across the entire program.
The other part of the end-of-the-tunnel health strategy is that, once COVID-19 testing is proven to be reasonably accurate, a federal inquiry into testing must be considered as a replacement for the 14-day quarantine. It is one of the largest barriers to family reunification at the moment, as some people are unable to take a full two weeks off to see their family member. A federal inquiry into the efficacy and usefulness of testing is needed.
Family is essential in life and in death. COVID-19 forces us to face mental health challenges in both. This briefing recommends strategies to reunite families safely and reasonably and to accommodate end-of-life reunification in a considerate manner while simultaneously promoting and protecting mental health.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.