A leaked government document shows the Stelmach government knows queue jumping happens in Alberta but has no plans to review the issue.
The internal presentation, dated July 2010, says Alberta law only explicitly prohibits queue jumping in surgical facilities outside hospitals.
“Despite the prohibition, queue jumping occurs in many ways,” the PowerPoint presentation says. “There are gaps in the legislation that allow workarounds.”
The document acknowledges the issue of queue jumping “may arise publicly” but says “it will not be reviewed.”
The leaked document is dated July 12, 2010, more than a year after then-Alberta Health Services CEO Stephen Duckett released a memo forbidding MLAs from helping prominent Albertans jump to the front of health-care wait lists.
However, the presentation makes no mention of Duckett’s memo.
The document was first leaked by opposition parties in November 2010 and made headlines at the time because it appears to suggest the Tories plan to privatize health care after the next provincial election.
The NDP caucus re-released the document Thursday, drawing attention to the section on queue-jumping.
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