The government is working towards implementing an information-sharing system — dubbed “Panorama”.
The issue was addressed during a First Nations health conference in Saskatoon today.
Deborah Kupchanko of Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch says anyone moving from a reserve to the city often has to wait for their file to be transferred.
She says this poses problems as citizens run the risk of getting a vaccination they don’t need, or getting sick while waiting for their file in the mail.
She explains the new Panorama system is aimed at getting one record for one client so clinics, pharmacists and bands are all on the same page:
“The ability to deliver immunization programs will be enhanced. You’ll have better information at the community level, better tracking of immunizations, whether they’re community reports, tribal reports, inter-tribal reports, it’s a better way to be able to pull several kinds of reports with more detail.”
She adds her health branch is also working on a First Nations-specific component of the system.
Meantime, an official with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says they are trying to better the way hospital-to-hospital transfers are done with First Nations patients.
Diane Lafond says it’s never easy when patients are taken away from their home community to the big city.
Lafond says some patients don’t speak English very well, and often don’t know what services they’re entitled to:
“And, also, when they’re leaving the hospital, (we need) to make sure they’re leaving there with what they require — whether it be a prescription, a wheelchair or walker, or maybe they’re going to require home care back in their community. So it’s a whole circle of care that they need in connecting with all the health care providers that they require.”
Lafond adds the FSIN is trying to raise the level of non-insured health care benefits for on-reserve patients.
Meanwhile, a study is underway of First Nations drinking water supplies in Saskatchewan.
The work is being carried out by the public health branch of the University of Saskatchewan.
Lalita Bharadwaj says the first study was done in 2006 and looked at samples from 69 different First Nations communities.
A total of 153 samples were looked at.
Scientists examined them for many different things including pesticides, radioactive species and hydrocarbons.
Fifteen per cent of the samples came from community buildings, 17% came from health facilities, 34% came from homes, 12% came from the water treatment plants, 11% came from wells and the rest of the samples were unspecified.
Bharadwaj says 75% of the samples exceeded at least one of the guidelines for Canadian drinking water.
She says the other samples were taken in 2010, and they’re currently comparing the two samplings against one another.
The results are expected to be known in six months.