Dr. Michael Warrington has undoubtedly seen and experienced more of life's trials and tribulations than the average person ever will, both as a doctor and as a combatant in Normandy and Northern Europe during WWII. He has lived the life of a “prairie” doctor with 3,000 patients spread out over an area of 500 sq.mi. Later on, he practiced family medecine for thirty years in Victoria and North Vancouver.

As a family physician with many aging patients he sees things he'd rather not (and which in many cases don't always seem to make sense!). He shares with us a few anecdotes as they relate to the public – private health care issue.

We publish here today a letter from Dr. Warrington, one in which he shares some candid thoughts on the quality of health care both in Canada and the United Kingdom. Some may disagree but few, if any, will accuse Dr. Warrington of being motivated by anything other than a deep and intense desire to see that those in need receive the care they need.

Should Canadians have the right to use their after tax dollars to purchase essential healthcare services in Canada?The answer is unequivocally - Yes. Everyone has heard the horror stories. Here are just a couple that I know personally.

A lady in her 80's - a neighbour - lives alone and cannot walk due to painful knee arthritis. She was told she would have to wait a year for knee surgery, so she bought a $2000 scooter because "I have to get out and I take my dog with me on a leash" - a small Scotch terrier.

I know another lady, otherwise in good health though she's 93, cannot get around due to knee arthritis and was told by the orthopaedic surgeon that the waiting list for her to get a new knee here in Vancouver would be three years.

Stories like this abound. Yet there are Government Health Authorities, right across Canada with numerous grossly overpaid lay administrators, all in charge of Medicare. One may well ask - what use are they? Former Prime Minister, Paul Martin, was once quoted as saying "Medicare is a jewel." Some jewel.

Can anyone imagine Paul Martin having to buy a scooter to get around because of a long wait for something like knee surgery - or Ujjal Dosanjh, former Federal Minister of Health, having to go around on a scooter while waiting for surgery? Where did Jack Layton go for his hernia operation? To a private clinic, of course - the Shouldice Clinic in Thornhill, Ontario. What's good enough for you isn't good enough for me - but if Medicare is so wonderful, why not use it?

Government run health care is inefficient. The Government has enormous amounts of money at it's disposal but has no idea on how to spend it wisely. Lay administrators, health economists and health planners close good working hospitals and are allowed to do so by the Government in the name of economy "....you'll get better care in the long run." Far from it - this tactic has made long waiting lists even longer.

The problem with Medicare has been drastically worsened due to the critical shortage of doctors. In 1991 a report by two health economists, Morris Barer and Greg Stoddart, came up with the theory that unless something was done there would be too many doctors in Canada. The Government listened to these two experts and mandated a reduction in Medical School enrolment right across Canada. We are suffering from the effects of this extremely unwise decision to this day.

In the 1970's, when I worked at Lion's Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, the nurses were talking about there being too few places for the numbers who wanted to do nursing training. So - cutting back on Medical School enrolment and Nursing training - closing hospitals (in this area alone - Delta Hospital, Shaughnessy Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital) has placed a strain on the remaining hospitals, which are busy already - and created even longer waiting lists.

The hospitals are dirty. People are literally worried if they have to go into hospital for fear they may contract a life threatening infection, such as MRSA or Clostridium Diffivcile.

Private Hospitals are cleaner and better administered. I've seen this in England. Prior to the NHS, the London Hospital where I trained and worked was always spotlessly clean. I visited the hospital in 2003 and it's now like a third rate hotel, a dirty one at that - and I'm not exaggerating.

In spite of the NHS there are now 200 private hospitals in the UK - responding to public need.

Canada needs freedom of choice. Faced with intolerably long waiting lists Canadians should be allowed to opt for private care, paid for by themselves or through private insurance.

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