LETTER TO EDITOR: Blockages for immigrant doctors need surgery

LETTER TO EDITOR: Blockages for immigrant doctors need surgery

Dear Editor:

Re: Blockages for Immigrant Doctors Need Surgery

Don Cayo’s article describes the series of roadblocks preventing foreign-trained doctors from finding employment commensurate to their qualifications; an inflexible and antiquated system “intended to protect the public from those with iffy qualifications, but instead it risks harming us by denying too many of us access to any doctor at all”.

This statement rings all too true for hundreds of Philippine-trained nurses in B.C. and thousands across Canada who are prevented by Canadian immigration policies and provincial nursing accreditation requirements from practicing their profession.

These foreign-trained nurses can only enter Canada through the Live-in Caregiver Program as temporary workers who care for the children, elderly parents, and people with disabilities of families who can afford to pay for private, live-in caregiving and housekeeping, oftentimes for less than minimum wage since they must live in their employers’ homes and are practically on call 24-hours a day.

Members and supporters of the Filipino Nurses Support Group (FNSG) remain adamant that if government officials and nursing leaders were sincere in their efforts to resolve the health care crisis and nursing shortage, the issue of Filipino nurses doing domestic work would be seriously addressed not only as an issue concerning Filipino nurses in Canada, but as one that affects all Canadians’ right to affordable and accessible health care.

According to Statistics Canada’s latest census in 2001, the Philippines is the third largest source country, after China and India, of immigrants to Canada. 93% of domestic workers under the Live-in Caregiver Program are from the Philippines. Many of them are nurses unable to work as nurses in Canada.

The current nursing shortage is predicted to only intensify in the coming years.
There are Filipino nurses who are fully qualified and licensed to practice nursing in B.C., yet are restricted from doing so until they complete their 24-month contract as domestic workers – an outright waste of human resources.

Since 1995, FNSG has been calling on the federal and provincial governments, regulatory bodies as well as unions to recognize the presence and skills of these Filipino nurses in Canada. By doing so, their much needed nursing skills and education would help Canada achieve safe and quality nursing and health care for all, instead of having them wasted in a time of crisis.

Sincerely,

Sheila Farrales
Filipino Nurses Support Group
(Reprinted from Vancouver Sun)