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Information re Northern Travel Grant Forms
posted October 2009
Many patients arrive at my clinic with Northern Travel Grant Forms from their physician asking me to sign Section 4 "Specialist"
On the back of that form you will see that the doctor who is consulted has to be a specialist certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons - the
Royal
College certifies specialists such as surgeons, cardiologists, gynaecologists etc.
Be reassured I have a full licence to practice medicine in
Ontario, and have since arriving in
Canada in 1975. The
College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario issues such licences. - the
Royal
College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons are different entities.
My post graduate training is in Family Medicine throught the College of Family Physicians of Canada . I currently hold CCFP certification
This means that, although I have limited my practice almost exclusively to treating varicose and spider veins since 1996, I am not a certified specialist under the rules of the Northern Travel Grant
I am also asked why the claim cannot go though
St Joseph's Hospital. My Vein Clinic is not affliated with St Josephs. I rent space from them but supply my own staff. The clinic charts are mine and do not stay at St Josephs. It is my Clinic not St Josephs.
It is therefore my understanding that patients coming to my Vein Clinic are not eligible to get a Northern Travel Grant even when I do procedures such as sclerotherapy or ambulatory phlebectomy, and even if the patient is referred to me.
By a quirk of the system, when I arrange special duplex ultrasound scans of the leg - not the simple ultrasounds I do at my regular clinics- travel grants are permissible. In that circumstance I am the referring doctor and sign Section 3 and the consultant is the radiologist who reported the scan later t t 2009
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LACK OF SURGEONS -
posted
October 2009
I am not a surgeon. I limit my vein treatments to Sclerotherapy - injections- and Ambulatory Phlebectomy. There are patients who, in my opinion, need referral to a surgeon for their vein problems.
Many of you are aware that, at this time,
it is very difficult to find surgeons to refer patients to for vein problems
In the last little while the 2 surgeons who have done most of the operations on my vein patients have stopped accepting new vein patients. They cite lack of access to operating room time as the main reason they have quit
There is one surgeon in
Thunder Bay who I can refer to. Clearly I cannot refer to him all of the 200+ people I have who need to see a surgeon.
I have been trying to send people out of town.
So far I’ve tried
Toronto,
Ottawa,
Hamilton,
Burlington,
Windsor,
Winnipeg and
Montreal. I do have one surgeon in Sioux Lookout who is going to see some patients for me. I have canvassed every surgeon I know of in
N W Ontario seeking help.
I have talked to Mr. Mauro - a local MPP- about this. His recommendation that I speak to the chief of staff at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and insist the surgeons get more operating time is unlikely to work.
Therefore I have had to create a surgical referral waiting list for my clinic.
I will refer the patients on this list to surgeons as appointments become available. I will try to priorize these patients based on severity of disease and time waiting.
As you can imagine I am very frustrated by this situation. It is taking a lot of time out of my practice just trying to deal with the questions and frustrations of the patients waiting.
I am also getting increased numbers of referrals from family doctors who know their patient needs to see a surgeon but cannot access one.
Should anyone colleagues or public alike,
have any advice, or a practical solution, on how I improve this situation I would be very willing to listen
t t 2009
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Sayulita
Mexico Jan 2009
TOMATOES OF THE SEA
Last weekend, while I was in the local market in Sayulita, on the west coast of
Mexico, I found a young man selling
Tomates Marines as a cure for Varicose Veins [as well as a variety of other ailments]
I decided to do some local and internet research and found they are a marine version of
horse chestnut and, from my vague understanding of Spanish, related to sea urchins.
I
have written about horse chestnut in a past Newsletter. It is consistently referred to in the alternative, and herbal, medical literature, as a treatment for varicose veins. My previous research found one scientific paper - from memory I believe written in the Lancet - suggesting it did help some patients if their veins were associated with leg swelling. It was felt that horse chestnut is a mild diuretic [water pill] and works by removing some of the fluid from the legs. There is no evidence that either horse chestnut or
Tomates Marines cure varicose veins.
However for those of you with swelling in your legs associated with varicose veins, and who are interested in "alternative treatment ' these products may be something to try to help your symptoms.
t t 2009
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