As promised, we are sharing with you the response we received from each of the three main political parties to the questions we had posed (see below). Click on the links to see responses (listed in the order they were received) from the:

• PC party
• Liberal party
• NDP party
• Plus a follow-up letter from Deb Matthews

Please make sure to vote! Angie Heydon Executive Director, AFHTO

1. For a summary of where each of the three main parties stands on health issues see below.
2. By June 10, AFHTO will share responses received from the parties on 5 questions about interprofessional primary care. Scroll down to see the questions.
3. Thank you to AFHTO members for raising awareness among candidates of the value interprofessional primary care delivers to patients and the health system and the need to support recruitment and retention of staff to deliver this care. Scroll down for more information.

1. PARTY PLATFORMS:

Lib – http://ontarioliberalplan.ca/#plan;

Liberals have pledged to “Guarantee that every Ontarian has access to a primary care provider.” Details on this pledge were released this morning; it includes the statement – “Improve the recruitment and retention of community-based primary care teams.”  Read more at http://kathleenwynne.ca/guaranteeing-primary-care-ontarians/ Other details about their health platform is found at – http://ontarioliberalplan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Access-to-the-Right-Health-Care-at-the-Right-Time-in-the-Right-Place.pdf .

• Reduce wait times for referrals to specialists
• Advocate for national drug insurance
• Increase funding to our Mental Health and Addictions Strategy
• Provide access to free vaccinations and newborn screening
• Develop Community Hubs for community-driven programs that focus on health and wellness
• Create 36 more Health Links to help those with multiple, complex conditions
• Provide culturally appropriate care
• Provide Ontarians with better information about chemicals linked with cancer
• Increase funding for the seniors activity and community grants program

PC – http://ontariopc.com/millionjobsplan/plan.pdf

The plan largely builds on the vision advanced through the earlier PC party white papers on health care. The major health care commitments in the plan are as follows:

• Local Health Integrated Networks (LHINs) will be eliminated and replaced by Health Hubs (which would bring together hospitals and community providers). These hubs will be run by front-line local health experts.
• To help manage chronic conditions, the PCs would increase home care and create Chronic Care Centres. Doctors and nurses would work together to develop comprehensive care plans. Patients with the highest needs would be assigned a dedicated care navigator to ensure care is received right when they need it. This person will be a frontline caregiver such as a nurse, not a bureaucrat.
• Home care and long-term care would be expanded.
• The scope of practice would be updated for pharmacists, nurse practitioners and other professionals, to allow treatment where it is most convenient and beneficial for patients, particularly seniors.
• Introduce a self-directed model of home care that would allow patients to select their services.
• Encourage more competitive contracts for companies that provide health care services.
• The role of modern, specialty clinics to provide more services such as dialysis and routine surgeries would be expanded.
• Mental health services would be integrated to address the fragmented service delivery experienced by most patients today.
• Children’s physical activity would be increased to 45 minutes per day, through school-based activities and after-school sports.
• A secure health care database that will allow doctors and nurses to study real-world feedback on what treatments work best to help them determine the best care path for future patients would be created.

NDP — http://ourplan.ontariondp.ca/?source=homepage

The major health care commitments outlined in the plan are as follows: YEAR 1:

• Open 50 new 24-hour Family Health Clinics with the capacity to serve 250,000 people, reducing the number of Ontarians without primary care access by 25 per cent.
• Hire 250 more nurse practitioners in the Emergency Room in an effort to cut wait times in half.
• Create 1,400 new Long-Term care beds with the goal of eliminating the waitlists for acute long-term.
• Eliminate home care wait times for seniors with a Five Day Home Care guarantee. Clients would receive approximately two nursing visits and 7.5 hours of personal support per month.

YEAR 2:

• A Caregiver Tax Credit of $1, 275 per year to families caring for the ill or elderly.
• Student debt forgiveness for doctors who choose to practice in rural, underserviced areas. The plan targets participation by 250 physicians, forgiving $20, 000 of debt per service.

2. AFHTO’S QUESTIONS FOR PARTIES:

Answers to the following questions have been requested by June 6. Response received will be sent to AFHTO members no later than June 10:

1. Evidence shows that a very sick patient without high quality care can cost the province $30,000/year but the same patient with access to interprofessional family care only costs the province $12,000/year. Will your party support strengthening our family care teams and enhancing our capacity to care for more patients?
2. Despite having family care teams in 206 communities across Ontario, 3 out of 4 Ontarians still do not have access to the benefits of interprofessional family care. If elected, what will you do to expand this care model to ALL Ontarians?
3. Interprofessional family care teams are committed to optimizing health outcomes for patients and populations, meeting patient and public expectations, and supporting a sustainable health system.  What will your party do to advance the capacity of family care teams to capture and track the information they need to achieve these goals?
4. Interprofessional care teams struggle to retain health professionals due to higher salaries being paid in hospitals, community care access centres, public health units and other settings. How will your party help interprofessional care teams recruit and retain more health care professionals in order to expand better care to more Ontarians?
5. Final question is specific to each party’s platform:
   1. Lib: In your 2014 campaign platform you state that part of your 10-year plan is to support family health by guaranteeing everyone in Ontario has access to a primary care provider. How do you plan to use interprofessional family care teams to fulfill this promise?
   2. NDP: In your 2014 campaign platform, you state that you will add 50 new 24-hour Family Health Clinics. How will this commitment affect the current care model we have in place? Will it have a positive or negative effect on interprofessional family care teams
   3. PC: In your 2014 campaign platform, you state that you will help manage chronic care by increasing home care and creating Chronic Care Centres where doctors and nurses will collaborate to develop comprehensive care plans. Will this commitment compliment the current care model we have in place or have a negative effect on interprofessional family care teams?

3. AFHTO MEMBERS RAISING AWARENESS:

While AFHTO’s President and ED have been working at the provincial leadership level, AFHTO members have been active in their ridings and on social media.  Among those attending a recent meeting of the ED Advisory Council, about one-quarter had met with their MPPs and about one-third intended to contact candidates. Materials to help you spread the word on the value of continuing investment in team-based primary care are posted on the AFHTO members-only website:

• Advocacy Tools & Resources