Canadian Wait Times for Surgery Increasing
Written by Sam on November 4th, 2007CALGARY, AB—A typical Canadian seeking surgical or other therapeutic treatment had to wait 18.3 weeks in 2007, an all-time high, according to new research published today by independent research organization The Fraser Institute.“Despite government promises and the billions of dollars funneled into the Canadian health care system, the average patient waited more than 18 weeks in 2007 between seeing their family doctor and receiving the surgery or treatment they required,” said Nadeem Esmail, Director of Health System Performance Studies at The Fraser Institute and co-author of the 17th annual edition of Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada.
The survey measures median waiting times to document the extent to which queues for visits to specialists and for diagnostic and surgical procedures are used to control health care expenditures.
“It’s becoming clearer that Canada’s current health care system can not meet the needs of Canadians in a timely and efficient manner, unless you consider access to a waiting list timely and efficient,” Esmail added.
The 2007 survey found the total median waiting time for patients between referral from a general practitioner and treatment, averaged across all 12 specialties and 10 provinces surveyed, increased to 18.3 weeks from 17.8 weeks observed in 2006. This is primarily due to an increase in the first wait, between seeing the general practitioner and attending a consultation with a specialist.
If you need surgery here in the U.S. you get it within a matter of days or quicker depending on the urgency. There is no five month wait, like in the Socialist system, and yet Democrats want to bring this here.
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“But we can do it better!” (says Hillary & Co.)
Of course a socialized health care system here would also destroy the innovation that has made our system so good.
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Right now, tens of millions of Americans, including children, are unable to pay for the basic health care they need to survive. Health care is often not a “quality of life” issue, but a “life or death” issue. I see and agree with your points about long wait times and reduced innovation- but the benefit of children not dying from curable diseases is also pretty strong. I remain torn on this issue.
In New Zealand (at least according to my tour guide), they have both a for-profit health care system for those who can afford it, and government run health care for the poor. This seems to offer the best of both worlds, does it not? They also offer doctors drastically reduced med school tuition if they will commit to working in this government-run hospitals for a few years after they graduate.