Patient First Review Hears Accounts Of Racism

Patient First Review Hears Accounts Of Racism

Tuesday, April 07, 2009 at 13:59

 

 

Aboriginal people face obstacles with transportation and racism when it comes to accessing health services in the province.

 

That’s according to preliminary findings of the Patient First Review, which is reviewing Saskatchewan’s health care system.

 

So far, 260 health care patients have participated within 40 focus groups.

 

Each group had at least one Aboriginal person, and four were completely Aboriginal people, with three conducted on-reserve.

 

The review’s commissioner, Tony Dagnone, says while Aboriginal participants note there have been some cases of providers going out of their way to provide culturally-oriented care, the “R-word gets mentioned over and over again”.

 

He says everyone in the health care system has to be reminded to be cognizant of patient dignity, adding sometimes “that’s forgotten about”.

 

Dagnone also says Aboriginal people and northerners face the difficulty of finding transportation to the larger centres, as well as who will foot the cost of travel.

 

The next part of the review involves hearing from health care providers and stakeholders.

 

Dagnone expects the final report to be out this summer.