The Wait Time Alliance of 18 national medical organizations, including the Canadian Medical Association of doctors, is calling on the Canadian government to reduce wait times, saying Canada does poorly providing timely health compared to other countries in particular, European countries.
“Wait times in Canada still remain significantly higher than in most leading industrialized countries. As the Health Council of Canada recently summarized, Canadians wait longer for primary, specialist, and emergency department care compared to citizens in most of the 11 countries surveyed in 2013.”
The Alliance statement points out: “Serious health consequences to long waits include: increased mental anguish; physical pain; greater deterioration in patients’ health; longer recovery time following treatment; and poorer outcomes. Children are particularly harmed by unnecessarily long waits given the impact that waits can have on their proper development.”
Even though healthcare is primarily a provincial responsibility, rather than a federal one, the Alliance suggests “the federal government should be an active partner/collaborator in working with provinces and territories and other stakeholders to improve timely access with the right care at the right place.”
More information:
Wait Time Alliance statement – Timely access to care for all Canadians: The role of the federal government – here
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