Amending IC Clinic hours to be more patient-centred

We would like IC Clinic hours at St. Paul's Hospital to be amended to include early morning hours, to allow medical treatment for the majority of patients (who work daytime hours).

While we greatly appreciate the health service provided by the IC Clinic, the current clinic schedule is planned for the convenience of nursing staff, and hospital administration. We would like the needs of patients to be taken into account in the planning.

The majority of people who work full-time, work 9-5 (or 8-5). The current IC Clinic schedule means that patients with full-time 9-5 jobs cannot receive medical treatment.

The schedule presumes that most people have employers willing to allow flexibility for staff to regularly attend appointments on staff time. The reality is unfortunately that many of us have employers who do not permit flexibility for regular appointments during work hours. Also, a number of us want to apply for full-time jobs, but cease to be candidates once it is explained that weekly or twice-weekly there are hours we cannot be available.

We would like the hours to change, and feel that a patient-centred IC Clinic schedule would work better for the majority, and by enabling more of us to work and contribute to the economy, will ultimately be a better deal for taxpayers.