To cut a long story short...

1. We need a health care system that focuses on the needs of patients. Not one that serves politicians, ministry bureaucrats, hospital workers, or health professionals.
2. Patients should *not* have to sue for access. Governments appear to believe that Canadians can be legally forced to wait, suffer, and even die while they wait for care.
3. At present, the patient is a servant of the system. That's backwards. It is time to change current Canadian policies which offer financial incentives to discourage the treatment of patients. The health system should serve the patient. Let's reward performance and patient satisfaction. Let's promote excellence. Let's incentivize health providers to deliver successful outcomes, which will also reduce wait times.
4. The poor in Canada have the worst access to care and the worst outcomes. Doctors, like judges, have a duty to rise above political debate and outline the truth. Our system is 30% private. We already have multiple user fees. The system is inequitable and multi-tiered. There is no national drug or dental plan. Health care and new technology are being rationed.
5. The current Canadian health scheme is founded on irrational rationing. Canadians are actually paying to prevent patients from getting better. The prevention of patients getting better is not what people mean when they talk about "preventative medicine".
6. Patients have a right to know which doctors and which hospitals perform best. Arm patients and their families with knowledge and the power to make their own informed decisions and the health system will improve. As competition and creativity are introduced into the field of health care, efficiency will rise and costs will fall.

Now you know part of our story, it's time to tell yours.