The call for a national strategy was prompted by a promise by the Health Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador to airlift cervical and ovarian cancer patients after the three experts left their medical practice.
James Bently, acting head of the gynecologic oncology division of the Capital District Health Authority in Halifax said it will be difficult for other doctors to assume the caseload. He pointed out that the remaining 60 oncologists specializing in female reproductive ailments are already overloaded with patients.
"Most places, ourselves included, are running at tolerable maximum levels to achieve that (patient care), and we don't have a lot of flexibility." Bently told the Globe and Mail.
Andre Lalonde, executive vice president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, confirmed that a human resource crisis is felt across the nation.
Lalonde told the Globe and Mail, "We anticipate that unless this issue is addressed and there's a framework in the federal scene, that we're going to see this more and more. You can't address this province-by-province."
Meanwhile, three members of the Ontario Physicians Poverty Working Group, in an article in the Toronto Star, wrote that they are prepared an outline of concerns and recommendations addressing poverty and poor health among Canadians, when they meet with Ontario Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews. Matthews was appointed by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to head a provincial cabinet committee to reduce poverty.
