The NDP Health Care System in Manitoba is clearly not working

Marleen Wawryk can attest to the fundamental problems in the way Manitoba's health care system is working under the NDP.

She developed a very painful right knee in the Spring of 2005. Now, after 17 doctors visits and 9 months later, she still does not even have a diagnosis as to what is wrong. She has been treated with a variety of medicines, most of which are pain killers. This is like using tylenol to treat a serious infection with a fever rather than with an antibiotic to cure the infection: treating the symptoms but not the cause.

She was told she had a choice of an MRI (wait time of 6 months) or a scope to look in her knee (an arthoscopy). Rather than wait a painful 6 months for an MRI and then have to wait yet more months more for the scope, she decided to proceed directly to the arthroscopy because it should provide the diagnosis and may provide treatment at the same time.

But here's the problem: she's been told the wait will be many months but she has not been given a date or even a precise waiting length. She is in very serious pain and she has to make decisions about her life and her work. Marleen cannot even plan something as basic as this because the reality is she has no idea when the scope procedure will be done.

With the system working appropriately, the MRI should be done within a week or two, and the scope a week or so after that - perhaps even faster. If fact, a bit over a year ago, Marleen's husband had a small chip in his knee and he had a scope within 3-4 months (not ideal, but bearable) and his knee was back to normal.

The problem with the way the system is not working is this:

1) Marleen's knee is getting worse and worse while being treated only with pain killers. The additional damage to her knee while she waits is only making the problem worse and the eventual medical solution is likely to be more extensive and more expensive because of the wait.

2) Marleen's long wait is expensive because of all the extra (17 and counting) doctors visits, not to speak of drugs, physiotherapy visits, etc. as well as time lost at work and in general aggravation. Moreover, because her knee is injured, she is not able to exercise and her general health may be deteriorating as a result.

The point here is that it is less costly overall and far better care to get the diagnosis done quickly and the treatment done quickly. This NDP government is giving us worse and worse health care by the day. There is only one real answer and that is the NDP needs to be booted out of government - as soon as possible!

The photo shows me with Marleen.