NDDN Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on National Defence |
![]() HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent de la défense nationale |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
DOING WELL AND DOING BETTER
Ottawa, June 17, 2009 -
The House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence has released its report on the provision of health services to the Canadian Forces, with a focus on post-traumatic stress disorder, entitled DOING WELL AND DOING BETTER. The study, begun in February 2008, conducted an objective examination of the root causes of main difficulties facing military health care in Canada today. The report offers 36 recommendations to the Government.
The report acknowledges that the Canadian Forces health care system is among the best of its kind in the world. It also notes that the Canadian Forces recognize that the well-being of military families is a crucial cornerstone of troop morale, operational effectiveness and personnel retention. However, as effective as current Canadian Forces health care and social support programmes are, there is room for improvement. Moreover, the provision of adequate health care services for Canadian military personnel and those family members who need it, is not solely a Canadian Forces issue. There are others that can and should help.
The report identifies three over-arching issues that seem to be at the root of much that is troubling the Canadian Forces health care system. First, there is evidence that attitudes toward mental health issues in the Canadian Forces remain largely negative. Second, there is a problematic policy-implementation gap. For every senior officer or departmental official who talked of initiatives being taken to improve military health care there was at least one junior rank who told us the system was not working for them. The third issue relates to the chronic shortage of professional health care providers in Canada. The report calls for a whole-of-government approach to assist in mobilizing, deploying and sustaining sufficient medical health professionals to meet the growing needs of injured Canadian Forces personnel and their families.
Principal recommendations include a call for the Minister of National Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff to jointly make a public announcement to all ranks of the Canadian Forces, outlining a high-profile effort to pursue a modern, enlightened and unequivocal view of mental health issues in the Canadian Forces. Second, the Department of National Defence is called upon to initiate an independent audit to determine the extent to which a gap exists between expressed Canadian Forces policy and actual practices applied in the continuing treatment and care of injured Canadian Forces personnel. Third, the report recommends that the Government establish, within one year, a National Health Care Resource Monitoring Council, led by Health Canada, composed of health representatives from the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other appropriate stakeholders. This Council should meet regularly, at least semi-annually, to review the disposition of all health care capabilities in Canada, review health care needs in various client communities such as the Canadian Forces and military families, identify gaps and consult on measures that could be taken to remedy them.
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