Alberta health-care system criticized by experts

An expert testifying at the inquiry into Alberta's health-care system says the public deserves more transparency from medical officials about how they decide where patients go on a priority list.

The provincial inquiry is examining queue-jumping in Alberta's publicly-funded health-care system.

Dr. John Church, with the University of Alberta, outlined problems in the system.

"The fact that there is a veil of ambiguity if not secrecy around the way a lot of the decisions are made in the health-care system is becoming increasingly troubling for the public, especially because we have increasing resource constraints," Church told the inquiry.

Church says the public needs to know how the decisions to spend Alberta’s health-care money are being made and says that transparency will give the public more confidence in the system.

Dr. David Alter from the University of Toronto also testified and gave an example of someone who gets an MRI in a private clinic, but then jumps straight into the queue for surgery ahead of others still waiting for an MRI in the public system.

"It's not an ethical issue, it's more, to what extent does this flow to and from going to impact adversely on the health and health outcomes of the patients who are still waiting and in need of service that can't be given that service in a reasonably timely fashion," Alter says.

The inquiry continues Thursday.