🎉In this article, we will learn the importance of being compassionate and empathetic towards our patients as healthcare professionals.

👥Interpersonal skills are crucial in the healthcare industry to build trust and establish rapport with patients.

😔Patients who receive empathetic and compassionate care have higher levels of satisfaction and better outcomes.

🦸‍♀️Sympathetic care delivered by healthcare professionals can positively influence the health and well-being of their patients.

👨‍⚕️Takeaways:

• Patients expect compassion and empathy from healthcare professionals, and it's our responsibility to provide this care.
• Listening actively and attentively to our patients' concerns and needs builds trust and fosters a healthy patient-doctor relationship.
• As healthcare professionals, we should avoid being judgmental or dismissive of our patients' feelings and emotions.

Alberta's Healthcare Institutions Facing Increased Government Control

Introduction

Alberta is steadily increasing control over key healthcare institutions to minimize opposition to controversial new legislation that creates opportunities for corporations to deliver health services and facilitates expanding the number and nature of surgeries delivered in private facilities.

Shift towards Regional Health Authorities

Throughout the 1990s, most provincial governments shifted responsibility for governing and delivering health services to newly created regional health authorities. Provinces also delegated responsibilities for planning and integrating health services to the regional health authorities. As with many other provinces, Alberta reduced its number of regional health authorities over time, with AHS now acting as the sole health authority.

Amendments to AHS

Prior to the recent legislative amendments, AHS had “final authority” for the following responsibilities: promoting and protecting the population’s health; assessing health needs; determining service priorities and allocating resources accordingly; ensuring reasonable access; and promoting service provision that is responsive to needs and supportive of integration. Under the amendments, AHS no longer has final authority and is now subject to accountability frameworks established by ministerial order. Also, AHS is now only responsible for planning and delivering health services, with the remaining responsibilities downgraded to mere purposes to be fulfilled in carrying out its responsibilities.

Control over Health Professionals

The government is seeking to exert similar control over health professionals. Its relationship with physicians is under significant strain due to a protracted compensation dispute between the AMA and the government. With this dispute still pending, the government enacted legislative reforms allowing it to enter into health service contracts with corporations who can then employ or contract with physicians as a way of sidestepping the AMA.

Increased Public Representation

The new rules will increase public representation from 25 per cent to 50 per cent on college councils (the governing bodies of colleges), complaint review committees and the tribunals that hear disciplinary cases.

Centralization of Government Authority

The government also recently circulated a proposal to amend the Health Professions Act that could further centralize government authority by assuming responsibility for various functions currently undertaken by self-regulated health professions, including registration and discipline.

Centralized Control over HQCA

The legislation also centralizes government control over the HQCA, an arms-length agency responsible for promoting and improving the safety and quality of health services.

Conclusion

Although the government’s shift toward privatizing healthcare services has received a great deal of attention, equally important are these legislative changes that erode the independence of key institutions that may have served as barriers to this controversial agenda and acted to protect the interests of the public and health professionals. The authors have no conflicts to declare.