I think that, with both of those areas, whether it's pelvic floor physiotherapy or looking at chronic pain and specifically chronic pain in the pelvis, we do see an inequity and quite a lack of equal access across the country, even within large centres like Calgary, Montreal or Vancouver.
We are blessed in Calgary. We have a large number of pelvic floor physiotherapists. We have a specific chronic pain centre.
I think that the challenge is access and money. For pelvic floor physiotherapy, the only patients I have who can access that are ones who have their own private coverage. Patients who are not covered by a private plan through work don't have access to pelvic floor physiotherapy at all. They're left to looking on YouTube for videos.
When it comes to the chronic pain aspect, sadly, the remuneration for that work for physicians here in Alberta is deplorable. It's hard to keep good, skilled people doing the hard work of chronic pain. It is not easy medicine. Anybody who has looked after patients with chronic pain knows that it's very hard medicine, and it is paid very poorly because it is not a procedure.
I think there needs to be a discussion about how we pay for those things properly, support patients in accessing them and then make sure that they are available, not only in rural and urban areas but also across the country.