Dear members,
Last week, the Premier's Council on Improving Health care and Ending Hallway Medicine released its first report exploring hallway healthcare in Ontario. Below is a summary of this report, and we encourage you to put forth your feedback to us.
Report from the Premier's Council: Hallway Health Care: A System Under Strain
Quick facts
- In 2018, 41 per cent of emergency department visits in Ontario were for conditions which could have been treated by patients' primary care providers.
- On average, 1000 patients per day were waiting for a hospital bed in an "unconventional space" or on an emergency room stretcher.
The Premier's Council has cited the above statistics and other data to emphasize the need for urgent action to improve Ontario's health-care system.
Key findings from Hallway Health Care: A System Under Strain
The report highlights key challenges of hallway health care, such as difficulties in navigating the health-care system and long wait times experienced by patients. The report also highlights limited capacity of the system to address complex care needs, and a lack of coordination, integration and efficiency in health-care services.
In their report, the council notes that simply adding more hospital and long-term care beds will not solve the issue. The council has uncovered several key themes which will guide the future development of detailed recommendations for ending hallway health care.
Summary of key findings
- There is a need to integrate care for patients across service providers.
- There is growing demand and opportunities for innovation in health care, e.g., virtual care, use of apps, digital health records which patients can access.
- There is potential for greater efficiency in streamlining and aligning system goals.
- A long-term plan to ensure that services and service providers can support changing health-care needs, e.g., an increase in complex care needs, is critical.
Next steps
In their next report, to be released in spring 2019, the Premiers' Council will offer detailed recommendations for promoting high quality care, efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and improved health outcomes for Ontarians. The council will provide strategic advice to ensure that Ontario's health-care system has "the right mix of health care professionals, the right number of hospital and long-term care beds, and that care is available when and where it's needed."
*Individuals or organizations who wish to provide feedback on this interim report can email their comments to the Premier's Council at hallwayhealthcare@ontario.ca.
For a summary of this report from the provincial government, click here. For the full report, Hallway Health Care: A System Under Strain, click here.
CHNIG Board