More needs to be done before Canada is ready to face an H1N1 flu pandemic, Canada’s doctors and nurses told members of Parliament Monday. (HO)

OTTAWA — More needs to be done before Canada is ready to face an H1N1 flu pandemic, Canada’s doctors and nurses told members of Parliament Monday.

Testifying before a parliamentary committee, groups representing medical professionals on the front lines said governments have to improve communications and do more to protect the doctors and nurses who will be called upon to treat victims of a pandemic.

“There is still more work to do at all levels before front line clinicians feel well prepared with information, tools and strategies they need,” said Anne Doig, head of the Canadian Medical Association.

The comments come as Canada’s health care system gears up for the possible return of the H1N1 flu virus, which has killed 78 Canadians and made thousands ill since it first appeared in Canada in April.

The federal government has put in place a pandemic plan and has promised vaccinations against the flu will be available for all Canadian.

But doctors and nurses say there are still gaps in the federal government’s plan — particularly when it comes to communications.

They said front line health professionals are getting mixed messages from the federal government, provincial governments and the media. Clear instructions for dealing with H1N1 have to be available at the fingertips of busy doctors and simple enough for the staff in doctors’ offices to be able to explain to patients, said Doig.

For nurses, who still remember the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003 that left two nurses dead, one of the key concerns is the availability of N95 respirator masks. Currently, only Ontario is preparing to equip nurses with the masks and to fit them properly, said Linda Silas of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.

elizabeth.thompson@sunmedia.ca