Where to from here? Keeping Medicare Sustainable; Stephen Duckett (2012)
Canadian Medicare – We Need It and We Can Keep It; Stephen Duckett, Adrian Peetoom (2013).
It is sometimes useful to read two similar type books at the same time in order to contrast them and see different angles. This book review is part of a series looking at books in the technology, health services, and innovation domains.
Stephen Duckett wrote two books within a few years of each other. Where to from here? Keeping Medicare Sustainable (2012) and Canadian Medicare – We Need It and We Can Keep It (2013).
Stephen Duckett was the CEO of Alberta Health Services and was recruited from Australia and known for his Health Services research.
The two books are very similar and seemed to be targeted at two levels of health system and policy knowledge. The latter book, Canadian Medicare (2013) is shorter and targeted to the novice health policy person, while the earlier book Where to From Here? Is longer, more in depth and full of references – so more for the immediate health policy person.
I would recommend only reading the earlier one — as if you are going to put in the effort, you might as well get the full context.
The one thing that I was most impressed by was the references. He is clearly well read and it was interesting seeing where ideas such as “an empty bed is a full bed” and “hospitals are the new cathedrals” came from.
Unfortunately, with covering such a large area as national healthcare for Canada, the details of the individual subjects are lost. For instance, when he covers the topic of Strategic Clinical Networks as a way of enhancing evidence-based knowledge amongst a larger group – he lacks the ability (in writing space) to address some of the criticisms – such as them turning into academic research initiatives or personal projects compared to enhancing/focusing on health service delivery.
As I continue to read more and more of these books related to the national Canadian Healthcare System – you see the same themes coming over and over again. The concept that the Canada Health Act should include Pharmacare and Homecare.
As I mentioned earlier, I would recommend only reading Where to from here? Keeping Medicare Sustainable (2012) — as if you are going to put in the effort, you might as well get the full context.