I am a patient in those clinics myself.
The clinics have a role to play, as long as they are working. If an administrator in charge of the budget cuts the number of doctors and the time for patients…
A lot of doctors are suffering from burn-out, because their decisions are always being questioned by Veterans Affairs Canada bureaucrats in Charlottetown. The clinics are losing their reason for existing. People no longer want to go to them; you feel that you are going for nothing because your doctor will not be there any more.
After the holidays, I am going to lose the psychiatrist who has been looking after me for five years. Where am I going to go? I will get a new psychiatrist and I will have to start from scratch and tell my story all over again. The clinic fulfills its role as long as the care is good and regular and the administrators want us as clients. If they do not want us, if they have budget problems…
I personally go to the clinic at the Ste. Anne's Hospital and I am noticing that I have less time with the doctor and that a lot of doctors are leaving. There is something going on with the administration.
The in-patients are major cases. I think there are just four of them at the moment.