Speak out against cuts

Dear editor:
Living in Northwestern Ontario, we have become accustomed to some degree of decreased access to health care.
We have a shortage of family physicians that often necessitates long wait times for appointments. We often wait for long periods, and travel long distances, to receive access to specialized tests and care.
One area of our health care system, however, has not experienced the same access issues. Local pharmacies have been the most accessible point in the health care system and the first point of access for many patients in our communities.
Patients are able to speak with a pharmacist seven days per week, with no prior appointment. We assist patients in managing medications and chronic illness, act as patient advocates with health insurance plans, interact with physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, and caregivers on a daily basis to ensure patients receive the most appropriate therapy, assist with obtaining refills when physician appointments are not available, provide education regarding medical devices, and assist with over-the-counter medications or advise patients when physician assessment is necessary.
Through our practice, we prevent adverse effects of medications, prevent drug interactions, promote positive lifestyles choices, and empower patients to take charge of their personal health.
On a daily basis, pharmacists prevent unnecessary hospital admissions due to inappropriate medication use, prevent unnecessary emergency room treatment, and save the health care system thousands of dollars.
Unfortunately, the McGuinty Liberal government has introduced legislation that soon will limit access to pharmacists and pharmacy services. Thanks to the McGuinty government cuts, the level of service you are used to receiving from your pharmacist no longer will be possible.
Community pharmacies do not have stable and predictable revenues. The professional fees paid by the Ontario Drug Benefit program have increased by only $0.56 over the past 20 years, and are the lowest paid by any province in Canada.
The current system, as designed and endorsed by the government, has been subsidized through professional allowances paid by drug manufacturers. These rebates are regulated by, reported to, and audited by the government to ensure they are being used appropriately to provide patient care and services that we all rely on.
These funds fill the void created by decades of under-funding the Ontario Drug Benefit system.
The McGuinty government’s proposals eliminate this source of funding for pharmacies, without an appropriate corresponding increase in payment for direct patient care services.
No matter how it is presented, this is a massive cut to frontline health care. Many pharmacies, especially small ones in rural Ontario communities, will struggle to survive.
We all agree that health care spending needs to be reviewed and controlled. The cuts proposed, however, are reckless. They go too far, too fast, and the consequences will be catastrophic.
This is especially true for patients living in Northwestern Ontario who already face barriers to accessing health care.
All pharmacies will be forced to make difficult decisions to cope with these cuts. The result will be less staff to serve you, reduced hours, longer wait times for pharmacy services, less opportunity for consultation with your pharmacist, and reduced patient services.
Pharmacies will have no choice but to reduce services, introduce charges for services that currently are offered free of charge, or close altogether.
As a community pharmacist, I am most concerned about the impact on patients. Many patients, especially seniors and those living with chronic illness, rely on the frontline health care that we provide.
The reality that I may soon struggle to provide you with the care you expect and deserve is disheartening, and goes against everything I believe as a health care professional. The fact that the government seems intent on implementing these reckless cuts without proper consultation or consideration of the true devastating impact on patient care is frustrating.
There is still time, however, to have an impact. If you believe, as I do, that these cuts are wrong, please call or write our MPP, Howard Hampton, to ask him to present our views to Mr. McGuinty.
Ask your pharmacist about how these cuts may impact the care you receive at your pharmacy.
Visit www.stopcuts.ca to learn more about the situation facing community pharmacy in Ontario, and continue to share your stories with us and the government.
Please help us defend your right to receive timely, appropriate care from your frontline pharmacist. Help us tell Mr. McGuinty and the Liberal government that this is one cut we truly cannot afford.
Signed,
Kevin Nielson
Community pharmacist