Medical wait times in Canada getting worse

[Anonymous]

Canadian health care is extremely expensive, inadequate and unsustainable. We must join the rest of the developed world with better health care outcomes than our own and allow private insurers to compete with provincial health care before it's too late.



Source: Fraser institute



One million on a waiting list: Study



Medical wait times for necessary treatment are long and getting longer across Canada, causing unnecessary suffering, disabilities and death, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute.



It found the median wait time across 12 medical specialties was 20.9 weeks in 2019, up from 19.8 weeks in 2018.



It's the second-longest median wait time ever recorded by the Fraser Institute, surpassed only by a 21.2 week median wait time in 2017.



It's also 124% longer than the 9.3 week median wait time the Fraser Institute reported when it began studying the issue in 1993.



"Across Canada, patients continue to wait more than four months for medically necessary treatment," said Bacchus Barua, co-author of the study Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2019.



"Long wait lines for medically necessary treatments increase suffering for patients, decrease quality of life, and in the worst cases, lead to disability or death," said Barua, associate director of health policy studies, for the fiscally-conservative think tank.



The study defines medical wait times as the time it takes for a general practitioner (i.e. a family doctor) to refer a patient to a specialist, plus the time until the patient ultimately receives treatment.



The report estimates more than one million Canadians are on medical waiting lists for necessary treatment, assuming each patient is waiting for one treatment.



"Wait times for medically necessary treatment are not benign inconveniences," the study says.



"Wait times can, and do, have serious consequences such as increased pain, suffering and mental anguish. In certain instances, they can also result in poorer medical outcomes — transforming potentially reversible illnesses or injuries into chronic, irreversible conditions, or even permanent disabilities."



A previous study by the Fraser Institute estimated the private costs incurred by



Canadians waiting for medically necessary treatment in 2018 was over $2 billion, due to lost salaries and reduced work productivity.



Nationally, wait times were longest at 39.1 weeks for orthopaedic surgery (for example, hip and knee replacements) and shortest for medical oncology (cancer) at 4.4 weeks.



Ontario had the shortest median wait time for medically necessary treatment in 2019 of 16 weeks, up from 15.7 weeks in 2018.



Prince Edward Island had the longest at 49.3 weeks in 2019, compared to 39.8 weeks last year, although the study cautions the numbers in Atlantic Canada may be skewed because there were proportionately fewer responses to the survey there compared to the rest of the country.



Every province recorded longer medical wait times in 2019, except New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.



The Fraser Institute has long argued patients should be allowed to spend their own money for medically necessary treatment.



Opponents say that would create a two-tier health care system based on ability to pay.



The issue may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court of Canada.



That's because of an ongoing court case in B.C., where a doctor is arguing the fact his patients are denied the ability to use their own money for medically necessary treatment, while the government forces them onto lengthy waiting lists for treatment, is unconstitutional.



Both sides agree the case is going to end up in the Supreme Court.



In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in a Quebec case that, in the words of then chief justice Beverley Mclachlin, "access to a waiting list is not access to health care" but the decision only applied to Quebec, and to the Quebec Charter of Rights.

[Anonymous]

We have arguably the best health care delivery here in Saskatchewan. But, it is still deteriorating like the rest of Canada. We needed reform of the Canada health act twenty five years ago. The rising costs and poor quality was predicted by Preston Manning more than twenty five years ago.

[Anonymous]

Under the NDP government more money was spent on health care, but wait times increased..



The money went to administration instead of delivery of care..



Health care executives would rather fire nurses than surrender one dime of their bloated salaries.

[Anonymous]

Under the NDP government more money was spent on health care, but wait times increased..



The money went to administration instead of delivery of care..



Health care executives would rather fire nurses than surrender one dime of their bloated salaries.

They make the cuts and blame the government for shitcanning nurses.

[Anonymous]

All the advanced countries in Asia have superior health care to Canada and they do it a lower cost. We all know more money is the prescription. We need competition.

[Gaon]

My wife and I do not have a good opinion of Canada's health care system. Israeli health care is far superior, offers choice and is truly universal.

[Anonymous]

In my lifetime Manitoba health care has stopped funding a lit of necessary treatments. But, spending for our heath care has soared.

[Anonymous]

When my mother was at the end of her life, she received good care. That was a long time ago.

[Anonymous]

When my mother was at the end of her life, she received good care. That was a long time ago.

Most people would agree health care is not as good as it used to be.

[Anonymous]

I see Alberta is proposing to reduce wait times for surgeries by shifting some of the burden to private surgical facilities. By shifting minor procedures such as hip and knee replacements and cataract surgeries to private clinics hospitals can have more time and resources for emergency care.  

[Anonymous]

I see Alberta is proposing to reduce wait times for surgeries by shifting some of the burden to private surgical facilities. By shifting minor procedures such as hip and knee replacements and cataract surgeries to private clinics hospitals can have more time and resources for emergency care.  

I don't care what they do, as long as they reduce wait times.

[Anonymous]

Canadians willing to pay for private MRI scans: report



Some provinces are more MRI-friendly for patients than others.



The first private MRI clinic opened in Calgary in 1993, and a new report by SecondStreet.org finds the majority of Canadians can pay for private MRI scans and avoids lengthy queues.



"Despite what some activists claimed would happen, the sky has not fallen since the first private MRI clinic opened in Canada 26 years ago," said Colin Craig, president of SecondStreet.org.



"In a majority of provinces, Canadian patients now have a choice — wait for an MRI scan through the public system or pay out of pocket at a private clinic. Some might even want to surprise a loved one with a private scan this Christmas."



Regulations that permit private MRIs vary from province to province, as in Saskatchewan where a clinic providing private scans must provide a free scan to a patient waiting in the public system.



"When you look at universal health care systems around the world that provide better results than Canada, they all have a mix of public and private options," Craig said.



"If Canada allowed more private procedures while keeping our public system, we could likely reduce the more than 200,000 patient trips that Canadians make outside the country for health care each year."

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/private-mri">https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/private-mri

All OECD  nations all allow it. It's time Canada pulled our heads out of the sand and allowed competition.

[Anonymous]

Canadians willing to pay for private MRI scans: report



Some provinces are more MRI-friendly for patients than others.



The first private MRI clinic opened in Calgary in 1993, and a new report by SecondStreet.org finds the majority of Canadians can pay for private MRI scans and avoids lengthy queues.



"Despite what some activists claimed would happen, the sky has not fallen since the first private MRI clinic opened in Canada 26 years ago," said Colin Craig, president of SecondStreet.org.



"In a majority of provinces, Canadian patients now have a choice — wait for an MRI scan through the public system or pay out of pocket at a private clinic. Some might even want to surprise a loved one with a private scan this Christmas."



Regulations that permit private MRIs vary from province to province, as in Saskatchewan where a clinic providing private scans must provide a free scan to a patient waiting in the public system.



"When you look at universal health care systems around the world that provide better results than Canada, they all have a mix of public and private options," Craig said.



"If Canada allowed more private procedures while keeping our public system, we could likely reduce the more than 200,000 patient trips that Canadians make outside the country for health care each year."

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/private-mri">https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/private-mri

All OECD  nations all allow it. It's time Canada pulled our heads out of the sand and allowed competition.

As long as private clinics are not used as an excuse to take funding away from provincial health care.

[Frood]

Socialism kills.

[Gaon]

Socialism kills.

I am not impressed with Canada's health care system. Israel's is superior.