Government Health Listening Tour Update

A few days ago, Premier Wab Kinew and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara continued their health care listening tour with a stop in Steinbach, and also released a progress report. 

The report summarizes what they heard, what they did, and what they are doing to respond to front line feedback. 

The themes the government reported hearing from front line health providers aligns with much of the feedback Doctors Manitoba hears from our members, which shapes the advice we offer to the government to improve the system doctors work in. This includes:

• Staffing and strained capacity are ​“driving causes of many issues” in health care, as well as burnout and challenges with work-life balance. 

• Safety concerns in health facilities.

• Long wait times for admission and discharge, including not having the right beds available for patients.

• Feeling unheard or disrespected by management with a need to change the culture in health care.

The government reports they have responded by investing resources into recruitment and retention, improving safety and security in hospitals, improving patient flow, and opening 201 more hospital beds and 78 more PCH beds. There are plans to continue this work to recruit more doctors and staff, open more beds and unveil an ER wait time strategy. 

Read the news release and progress report here.

You can always let us know, in confidence, what you think of the health system and government plans by emailing us at practiceadvice@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

Access Improvement Model

Standardization helps make quality improvement initiatives stick. In primary care, it is about creating consistent workflows and processes so everyone on your team can work toward the same goal(s). Without standardization, even well-meaning changes can fade over time, leading to inefficiencies and patient frustration.

The effectiveness of an intervention depends on its approach. For example, updated rules and policies are often less impactful than standardization, which focuses on systems rather than individuals. As an intervention itself, the Improvement Model (AIM) incorporates various standardization techniques to help teams develop a plan to improve an identified access-related issue. 

More specifically, in AIM you will learn about:

• System diagnostics: Use tools like Fishbone diagrams and process maps to identify the root causes (bottlenecks, delays, inefficiencies, underutilized skills, etc.) that are leading to the identified problem.

• Testing changes: Implementing small-scale trials using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to find out what works before applying it across your clinic.

• Document improvements: Create shared resources for staff so the proposed change is easy to follow and can be built upon in future cycles.

While AIM uses concepts of standardization to successfully implement change, the same concepts can also be applied by teams when developing the change idea itself. This approach strengthens sustainability, reduces the risk of regression, and build a solid foundation for long-term improvement.

If you are ready to make lasting improvements to patient access and learn about standardization, sign up and get started today! Please visit the AIM website and be sure to reach out to us at aim@​sharedhealthmb.​ca if you would like to explore AIM in greater detail.

Mpox case

Manitoba Health has advised that the first confirmed case of clade lb mpox has been detected in the province, also the first such case in Canada. The case is travel-related, associated with an ongoing outbreak in central and eastern Africa. Read more here.

800 Hip and Knee Surgeries for Selkirk

The province announced details about their plan to add hip and knee surgeries to the Selkirk Regional Health Centre, adding 800 additional surgeries per year in Manitoba. Read more here.