Thank you.
I'd like to first thank the standing health committee for the opportunity to provide my perspective on this really important question surrounding what the federal government can do to address, as we've just heard, the acute and very critical recruitment and retention issues and workplace issues for many health care providers throughout our country, particularly with an emphasis on urban and rural communities.
I'm not representing a particular perspective but a whole perspective, in that my perspective has been influenced by my clinical knowledge, training and background—being a nurse. I have both knowledge and extensive experience in many aspects of our health system, which has enabled me to see truly a whole perspective, one that is inclusive of being a provincial public health servant as well as being a patient.
What I'm hoping to contribute to the discussion is an understanding of experiences related to this issue. Throughout this country we're hearing—not as eloquently as from the first witness—from all providers, the public, patients, clients, residents and their families that we are in a critical condition as it relates to recruitment and retention.
I wish I could say that this is the first time we have heard, or I have heard in my career, that there are issues with both the recruitment and the retention of providers, but I am here to say that in fact this is not a new issue. This is an issue that we have been wrestling with for many years and, as a result of the work that was done previously.... The federal government did some extraordinary work leading both the provinces and the territories in 2000 and onwards towards dealing with this same issue.
The issue for us today, however, is further compounded by the fact that we knew this was coming. We predicted—it was a known factor—that our retiring baby boomers would leave a big gap in the system, and a study that was done in 2009 actually predicted that there would be a shortage of 60,000 registered nurses. That is without the consideration of a pandemic, which truly has had a deleterious effect on our health care providers.
Before going into what the federal government can do, the next point is the acknowledgement that in our health systems—and we've studied them, whether on a provincial basis or a national basis, on a regular opportunity—our initial reaction is a very reactive one. We have tended to look at issues as if they were single entities that occur outside of the system.
My knowledge and my extensive experience have shown that in order to address this issue, we must work collaboratively and co-operatively to address what is before us, acknowledging that all levels of government in Canada—the provinces, the territories, our indigenous peoples and other under-represented groups, our education system, our employers in health professions and other relevant stakeholders—can actually come together to help solve this problem.
Having looked at what the federal government has done, we have actually had extensive work done with health human resources, and a strategy that was developed can continue to serve as a foundational document from which to jump-start some work.
My significant worry is that, as we speak, provinces and territories are having to address the shortage of critical personnel in order to provide care. As a result, they're coming up with lots of very innovative ideas. We just heard of one in terms of the increase in compensation, although at 1%. My worry is that unless the federal government takes a facilitating role to bring all parties together, we're going to be left with a further fragmented system and provinces functioning very differently from one another. As was done in the past, I would recommend that we bring folks together. We can do a number of things.
The other point I would like to make is that with the health system, if we're singularly focused, we are not going to be successful in addressing the issues that are before providers, patients and families. I'm recommending a pan-Canadian approach. I would offer that there are a number of things that we can do together to address.... Number one is really confirming, on the demand side, what the pan-Canadian vision is for health. We can begin to look at, identify and share what some really good strategies are to not only recruit, but retain our current providers.
In addressing some of the key workplace issues that have already been addressed by our first witness—