As Ontario grapples with a tripling risk of respiratory illnesses in the fall of 2022, putting enormous strain on hospitals province-wide, ford govt Conducted an opinion poll on whether or not the health care system was in a state of crisis.
The poll, conducted for the Ontario government in late October and early November and accessed by Global News, asked respondents a range of questions about the health care system, including whether news coverage was too negative and whether private delivery was overpriced. His views on public health service.
The questions were asked by Leger through its online platform to a representative sample of 1,000 Ontario adults. The survey, which ran from October 27 to November 3, 2022, conducted a comprehensive opinion poll on a variety of issues, including government performance, education and health care.
The survey shows that a quarter of respondents chose the health care situation in need of the most attention from the Ontario government as their top priority, while 74 per cent agreed that “Ontario’s health care system is in crisis”. “
In the fall of 2022, a vote was held for a Ford government.
Ontario government
Natalie Mehra with the Ontario Health Coalition called the survey “outrageous” on whether the health care system was in crisis.
“How can they poll asking whether or not people think health care is in crisis, when (it) is clearly in complete crisis?” He said.
“And the question is: why wasn’t the government putting its full attention on doing something to address the crisis?”
The same poll also asked people their views on private delivery of publicly funded health care, which seemed to spur changes to be made by the Ford government a few months later.
“To help reduce long wait times, I favor using privately owned and medical facilities if they are publicly funded and patients don’t have to pay,” the survey said. Is.
It found that 22 per cent people completely agree, while 33 per cent agree to some extent.
But the question, some critics argued, was framed to elicit a certain response.
“It’s a very partisan way, I think, a very manipulative way to try and soften up the public for what the public doesn’t want,” Mehra told Global News.
In January, Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones unveiled a three-phase plan to deliver more procedures to private clinics. Both emphasized that the surgery and tests would continue to be paid for by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.
The province said about 206,000 patients are waiting for surgical procedures.
The first phase of the plan includes 14,000 cataract surgeries through new centers in Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa. The province said these surgeries would be performed with existing staff and no one would be taken from the hospital system.
Ontario NDP leader, Marit Stiles, said she believed the October and November ballot question was indicative of future government policy.
“At a time when Ontarians are desperate for answers and solutions in the public health care system, this government is trying to find a way to sell it,” he told Global News. “That’s what I feel when I look at that pole.”
Stiles said the survey showed that the Ford government was more concerned with “PR issues” and “looking good enough in the public eye” than with immediate health care issues.
“It’s not a popularity contest for government, it’s about fixing problems that people are dealing with every day,” she said.
A survey conducted for the province asked people to respond to a series of statements about health care.
Ontario government
The province has noted several policy changes to address health care issues in Ontario in the fall and winter months.
Beginning in 2023, new rules will allow pharmacists to prescribe medicines for some common ailments, while changes have also been made to recruitment rules for nurses to speed up the registration process.
In November, the health minister announced $183 million to upgrade 131 hospitals.
“Our government is investing to ensure that Ontario’s hospital and community health infrastructure remains state-of-the-art,” said Health Minister Sylvia Jones in a media release.
“This funding will also help eliminate hallway health care and build the capacity needed for people to continue receiving world-class care.”
The polling fieldwork was done as Ontario’s hospitals grappled with the triple threat of the spread through the community of respiratory viruses – COVID-19, Influenza and RSV.
On 14 November, less than two weeks after polling operations were to end, the Ministry of Health instructed emergency departments to prepare for a “significant increase” in demand.
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While pediatric hospitals are under particular strain, officials said creating additional capacity for children would impact other parts of the system. He said Ontario’s health care was “extraordinarily strained”.
Crisis planning to counter a surge in hospital demand, especially from children, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, urged people to wear masks regularly.
Months earlier, in August, Jones refused to describe emergency room closures as a crisis.
She disagreed with a reporter describing the closure as “unprecedented”.
“No, I’m sorry, it isn’t,” Jones said. “So when there is a high incidence ebb and flow of people taking leave – appropriately – then we need to make sure we have systems in place.”
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The province’s polling also asked whether respondents were getting the medical treatment they needed, if their previous experience was positive and if “the negative things I heard about Ontario’s health care system” matched their experience.
Another statement—with which 37 percent of respondents agreed in one way or another—said, “I think news coverage of Ontario’s health care system focuses too much on negative issues.”
With files from The Canadian Press