We need action toward solutions. In Acute Care Concerns we highlight some areas of the acute, hospital and community specialist world to increase awareness of parts of the health care system that many Albertans will never see.
Some Albertans may not immediately recognize the term General Internal Medicine (GIM), but chances are most of us have relied on GIM specialists at some point. In many communities, referrals from family physicians to GIM would either be for help to manage metabolic disease (obesity, hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes), cardiovascular disease management, unexplained symptoms or help with balancing multiple medical conditions. In a hospital setting, those who are sick and medically complicated but not in the ICU are most often consulted in the ER and/or are admitted under the care of General Internal Medicine. If you are in a smaller centre, the ICU may also be home to GIM specialists. You may also be seen by a GIM specialist as a consultant for medical concerns and management support while you are being overseen by a surgeon or family physician hospitalist relating to surgery.
We take for granted that when we need surgery, skilled general surgeons will be available to care for us. In reality, it is becoming increasingly difficult for patients to get access to the timely elective or emergency surgeries they need. Many hospitals across Alberta are increasingly being forced to enact diversions; the term used to describe situations when patients are transferred to other facilities due to a lack of available services, including when the general surgeon has no Tier 1 (support team) staff available to help with essential work. Quite simply, this is something that should never happen in any hospital, especially large hospitals that offer the most advanced and high-tech specialist care.
Alberta’s cancer care system delivers some of the best treatments and care options in Canada but is dangerously overloaded and under-resourced. Right now, it takes up to 13 weeks to be assessed by a radiation oncologist and up to eight weeks to be assessed by a medical oncologist at Alberta’s cancer centres. Only 60% of the top five cancer surgeries (bladder, colorectal, breast, lung and prostate) are performed within Alberta’s recommended target time. Approximately one in two Albertans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and cancer remains the leading cause of death in Alberta. A Canadian study has shown that delaying cancer treatment by four weeks can increase a person’s risk of dying by 6 to 13%.