91Ô­´´

An outsider’s view of 91Ô­´´ health care

Medical facilities in Canada are going from bad to worse, with wait times for general checkups to surgeries being unduly long and irritating.

Not long ago these facilities were considered among the best in the world. Since the pandemic the rest of the world has recovered, but not Canada’s medical facilities.

A victim of a minor accident has to wait for a long time in hospital to draw attention, although someone who is critically ill will receive the best of attention.

Why are minor problems allowed to deteriorate before getting urgent medical attention?

I know of a young man from Victoria who suffered a knee injury last year and the waiting time in hospital was more than five hours.

He was referred to a specialist and an MRI confirmed the need for surgery. Everyone considered him lucky to get an appointment with a surgeon within two months.

The nightmare started then. For more than six months he has waited for a call for surgery. There is no indication when the call will come.

Knowing where you are in the queue gives solace to mind, but there is no ­system to inform the patient of that.

The delay affects other parts of the body. More pressure on the other leg may deteriorate that leg, and extra pressure on the hip may lead to other problems which may also require some attention.

I am perplexed why the capabilities of highly accomplished and capable surgeons are being wasted because trained nursing staff are not available.

A call for urgent remedy and put your house in order is needed.

Anil Malhotra

Chandigarh, India

She’s 95 and needs a prescription refill

I have a 95-year-old neighbour who is deaf, sight impaired and in need of prescription refills.

I have been tossed around the system all morning looking for a physician to renew her prescription with the final statement being “take her to urgent care.”

Do we want to sit at urgent care for four or five hours for a simple renewal? Not likely when the name “urgent care” signifies why the facility is there.

The NDP brought universal health care to Canada and now they are taking it away. Explain that to the millions of ­voters who are without medical care in this province.

Do we put our elderly on an ice floe and wait for the tide?

Susan Dennison

Parksville

Cost of the crown is really not that much

I don’t have much in common with our new king, Charles III, a fondness for gardening maybe, but I am a fervent ­supporter of our system of constitutional government with the British monarch as Head of State.

People who know me, know that I am a tightwad — a penny saved is a penny earned (that may date me). Did you see the coronation? Do you know how much it cost?

Me neither, but it was beautiful. Why do I say, beautiful? Because it didn’t cost us a cent!

Yes, I know we sent a contingent of our best (many thanks) but that cost peanuts compared with what the Brits paid and continue to pay year after year for the palaces and palaver. For our part we send a few bearskins.

But you would rather have a Republic of Canada, I gather. Ever thought of the cost?

Currently a royal visit costs several million dollars but believe me that is nothing compared to what a resident president would run up. Canada is a fairly small country population-wise but the rule is, the smaller the country, the larger the presidential palace. Think billions, plus upkeep.

Compare that with what we save with the current constitutional monarch who only visits when invited. I know this sounds far-fetched but may I draw your attention to the rising damp in the prime minister’s official residence.

If we had a president the ­presidential palace would have to be repaired no ­matter what the cost, but what happened with our prime minister?

We locked the doors and moved the him into the gamekeeper’s cottage.

Now that is savings which even I did not imagine!

Long live King Charles!

Joe Harvey

Victoria

Should Canada stay in the monarchy? No.

The monarchy is the last official part of what once was a pervasive class system in Britain in which your place in society was determined by your class at birth.

I do not approve of class system and I would like to be free of the monarch. Let’s get images of 91Ô­´´s who contributed to our country on our money.

Bruce Pendergast

Victoria

Royal brand stays strong — despite it all

Marketing people around the world can learn a lesson or two from the promoters of the Royal brand.

It requires ingenuity and skill to promote a moribund and irrelevant institution which has a long history of profiting from slavery, colonialism and looting.

Imagine a company having those roots and having a current executive team with published stories about loss of virginity, quarrels between brothers, paying hush money to avoid court cases, discussions of grandkids’ skin colour, etc.

Now the don of this team, who claimed to have a right to a mistress because it was a traditional right, has been crowned king and his mistress is now the queen.

In the meantime, we the subjects are required to bow our heads in deference.

Throw in pomp and pageantry, fancy hats, consistency, nostalgia, romance and have a jolly good time.

What a solution for the troubled world.

It never fails to surprise me how a large number of kind caring and otherwise very intelligent people could buy in to this soap opera.

I wonder if we still have subconscious attachment to the colonial past.

Surinder Kumar

Victoria

Take responsibility for those who aren’t able

My daughter has complex health needs, including mental health issues, a brain injury and a heroin addiction. Prior to her introduction to heroin, I had been her “external brain,” guiding her quite well through life.

I was acknowledged by school and health agencies as critical to her ­functioning well in society.

Once she started using heroin when she was 16, government and organizations became involved and I was told she had the right to make her own decisions; my input was, at best, tolerated. I was relegated to the sidelines despite my protestations.

Now, almost five years later, my daughter has lived in the street for two years, lived in a “Covid hotel” for three years, and is now back in the street, has overdosed twice (that we know of), contracted Hepatitis C, is malnourished, and has endured physical, mental and emotional trauma, which is ongoing.

I have persistently said that she needs to be confined in a safe environment where she can get help with all aspects of her health, first and foremost getting her off heroin.

Because of her brain injury, she will never make the cognitive leap that is needed in order for her to ask for help, which is what any detox and recovery program is waiting for her to do. That will never happen; it has to be done for her, to give her a chance at having a ­“normal life”.

Natexa Verbrugge’s recent commentary points to the very real dangers of allowing some people to continue making decisions when their decisions have so clearly left them vulnerable, and we have to take on that responsibility for them.

As she pointed out, we do that for other members of our society, like seniors, or people with obvious disabilities, so why do we hesitate to do it for others?

Luanna Larusson

Victoria

Reading offensive book might be right decision

If you are offended by a book, don’t read it. Or, here’s a thought, read it and learn something.

Lori Hamilton

Duncan

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