Doctors Manitoba pleased with provincial pledge to end sick notes

Dr. Nichelle Desilets, president of Doctors Manitoba, shares her thoughts on the Manitoba government’s speech from the throne.

The organization representing Manitoba’s physicians said it’s pleased with the province’s pledge to ease the administrative burden on doctors.

On Tuesday, the Manitoba government outlined its top priorities during the speech from the throne, including a commitment to eliminate sick notes for absences from work of less than seven calendar days.

Dr. Nichelle Desilets, president of Doctors Manitoba, said this move will help in the province’s efforts to retain physicians.

She added that sick notes for mild illnesses are not a good use of the health-care system.

“This is a great step forward on a path to continue that reduction of administrative burden,” she said in an interview with Your Morning Winnipeg on Wednesday.

During Tuesday’s throne speech, the province also announced a ban on mandatory overtime for some nurses.

Desilets said this will improve the workplace culture for nurses but also recognizes that in the past mandatory overtime has come from a need to maintain services.

“I work in a really small hospital, and I really care about making sure that services and that ER are open when patients need it,” she said.

Other health-care commitments in the throne speech include a charter of patient safety and an online portal for patients to access lab results.

Desilets described this portal as “exciting,” saying that Manitoba tends to fall behind other provinces in terms of the availability of patient information.

She noted she’s looking forward to learning more details about this portal, adding that it indicates a more patient-centred approach.

“As a physician I can’t even access some of the patients’ medication information, medical notes, things like that,” she said.

“There’s clearly a lack of infrastructure and technology to make that information available if those within the health-care system can’t even access it.”

Desilets said everything she heard in the throne speech regarding health care is positive and is looking forward to a continued collaboration with the government.

More information on Manitoba’s speech from the throne is available online.

• With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagacé and Jeff Keele