Canadians have the benefit of free medical care but sometimes they have to wait a long time to get it. “If you have an emergency problem, there’s probably no better place in the world to be than Canada,” says Dr. Chris Simpson, chair of the Wait Time Alliance. “But if you have something that is an elective or something that can wait, people do tend to wait.”
ListenWait times generally ‘too long’
Wait times have improved for some procedures, but others have not, according to the Wait Time Alliance which collects information and issues an annual report. In general, it says wait times are too long and significant variation exists among some provinces.
In Canada, each province is responsible for providing health care to its own citizens. Funding is provided by the federal government which sets certain standards of care. The result is that how long a patient has to wait depends on where they live and the procedure they need.
‘A patchwork quilt’ of care
“It’s a real patchwork quilt,” says Simpson. “We have some places in Canada and some medical services where the wait times are actually pretty good. And then we have many more where there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
For example, he says that patients waiting for bypass heart surgery most often don’t have to wait more than a few weeks and that is good. But those with mental health problems may wait a year to see a psychiatrist. Seniors who could be released from hospital sometimes wait years for placement in long-term facilities.
‘Canadians need to know’
The wait ranges from very good to “quite egregiously bad,” says Simpson. Living in a hospital, he says, is toxic. Seniors may get infections, they may fall or be socially isolated. And long waits for cancer patients “can change the outcome of treatment.”
Simpson says collecting data is important. “Frankly, you can’t fix what you don’t measure.” He says Canadians need to know what the wait times are so that if they are intolerably long, they can pressure politicians to do something about it.
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