Are Canadians satisfied with their health care?

Question

I hear horror stories about the long waits and even some folks die waiting to see a surgeon or doctor...
Tell me some of your experiences.

Answer 1

I've never had a problem but I live in a small town.

Answer 2

I still have my left leg attached after a pretty nasty accident in my teens. Great surgeons and a month in the hospital. Total cost? Nothing , as it had already been paid for by my parent's taxes.It DID cost for the television rental of course.
It can be difficult getting a new family physician these days as many like to keep their patient lists down but it's not impossible to do in short notice or you can just head to a walk in clinic. Getting appointments isn't usually hard or a long wait but that can also vary with the doctor's speciality. For instance, last fall I needed an ENT for a dive related infection and had an appointment with this particular specialist in under a week locally. Some are more in demand than others as the population ages. The same applies to certain expensive medical equipment such as MRI's. More are coming into service ( in Ontario) to help bring wait times down, but the money has to come from somewhere so some government departments take a budget hit or a new tax is initiated. Our care system isn't free (taxes) but it's always there and our health professionals are pretty top notch in my opinion. I've never had an issue.
The one thing that I would like to see some improvement on is prescription meds dispensing fees. While the drugs themselves may be covered or partially so, under a province's plan, the pharmacy can pretty well name it's price in counting the pills out. There can be a 10 dollar difference between pharnmacies dispensing the same quantity of medicine. For seniors, living on a Gov't pension, this can make or break them.

Answer 3

I think it is a hit or miss with our system. I live in Toronto and have had to make a trip to the ER on a few occasions - on one such occasion, I had very obvious symptoms of appendicitis yet one of the best hospitals in the city couldn't diagnose it and sent me home after 2 1/2 days of tests and observation in the ER. Of course I got worse and worse and went to another reputable hospital downtown - again they could not come up with a diagnosis right away and were ready to send me home once more - however, we threatened to sue if they didn't perform another cat scan (which is usually not necessary) or provide treatment. Well they did the scan again and sure enough there was the enlarged appendix - but even then they just wheeled me back into the ER at night and said to wait until the morning for surgery. Luckily cooler heads prevailed and I was whisked to the O.R. in less than an hour - had they really waited till the morning the appendix would have surely burst (that's what I was told by the surgeon) - the tissue was already gangrened.

On another ER visit I had broken my finger - again very obvious but was sent home without any treatment - now I have a permanently crooked finger with arthritis.

Of course I did get appropriate and efficient treatment on other occasions - once for a bad asthma attack and another broken finger which actually required emergency surgery the very next day.

So there you go....

I have to say though that in a number of regions, waiting times for ERs, specialized tests (like MRI, PET Scan, Biopsies, etc.), and specialist consultations have improved - for example I got a head MRI (was experiencing severe headaches) within a week, my mother got to see a urologist in less than a month, and my grandmother got a bone marrow biopsy appointment in 4 days.

However, I think the real problem with our system is in fact a severe lack of competent, well-trained doctors. We have the equipment, the facilities, the treatments but the diagnosing, in my experience at least, is just appalling. I believe that more than anything else this deficiency is putting people's lives in jeopardy.

On the plus side though, it is accessible to every citizen so it does save a lot of lives as well.

Answer 4

Hello,
I would say the waits aren't all to do with health care (insurance) but rather the most common problem here in British Columbia (Where I live) and that would be the normal in all of Canada. Waiting is a part of being Patience's anywhere, not just Canada, then finally we are so badly understaffed in shortages of doctors and nurses.
At lest we have health care, better than none at all and even if didn't have any health care they can not refuse you.
It's under staffing which is a real dire problem here.

I have saw first hand many occasions and for this reason alone, I'm now back in college taking my nursing degree.
Thank you.

Answer 5

By and large, yes. There are long waits for certain procedures like hip replacements etc, depending on where you live. But if you have a serious problem, you will be put at the top of the line.

My husband had symptoms that could have been potentially serious. He got in to see our doctor within two days, and when the diagnosis was uncertain, he was referred to a specialist within two weeks. He had to undergo a series of tests, many of which could be done at our local hospital, and all were completed within a two week period. Luckily, they found nothing wrong.

If the need is serious, you can be put through the system pretty quickly. For unimportant things, there may be a wait. But I don't mind that, knowing that I will get the required treatment, and that I won't be faced with selling my house to pay for it, or have to work in my old age to buy health insurance.

Answer 6

Overall, our health care system is doing okay. Things are done based on the severity of your illness or injury of course but the main problem is the shortage of doctors and nurses who head south for the better pay of a for profit system. No system is perfect and for elective surgeries the wait times can be long and it is hard to attract doctors to smaller rural areas which in turn does lead to overcrowding in emergency rooms at times. That being said however, our health care is a tangible benefit of paying taxes. We see it every day, no one has to take out a loan to pay for emergency visits or decide between food and seeing a doctor. Could it be improved, sure, is a for profit medical system the way to go? Not in this guy's opinion but what do I know, I only have 3 kids and my wife has a supplemental insurance through her job that helps with glasses, dental etc. Haven't had to choose between medical care, mortgage payments or food and as a whole, couldn't be happier about our system.

Answer 7

You must be American and listening to Republican claptrap.

In general our healthcare is superior to yours and there are no waits.

However, waiting lists did develop for certain non-emergency elective surgeries; the most glaring of these was hip replacements. But that situation is also improving now that our Supreme Court has ruled that either the provinces must provide such care on a timely basis or allow private clinics and hospitals to be established to do them.

Canadians have longer life expectancy and lesser child mortality than you. We cover everybody's health care at a per-capita cost of 40% less than in the States.

Answer 8

the health care its self is good, but the system is poor, the wait times are horendus. a few moths ago in wood shop class in highschool i cut the end of my finger off, accidently lol, and had to go to the hospitle and i wated for 4 1/2 hours before i got into a room, then once i got in a room i waited another half hour untill a doc showed up and actually did anything to me.... and i was in the "urgent / emergency" line, lol. but, it didnt cost me a thing, i think all we need is more docters, hopefully the government will take notice

Answer 9

My Canadian experience 2002:

Family doctor Tuesday, neurologist & CT Thursday, MRI Monday, bad news Tuesday. Choice of 4 specialists.

Six weeks later, after tests and auto blood donation, highly effective surgery, followed some months later with specialist radiation. So far, so good!

Answer 10

Waits can be long and yes, people have died waiting. Of course people have also died waiting in all countries (unless they are rich of course). Personally I have found wait times to vary greatly from going in almost immediately to waiting several hours to go in. Basically it depends on your symptoms when you arrive at the emergency room. People who are experiencing symptoms related to a possible heart attack, young children, and those not concious are brought in first.

I can remember going in and, due to the symptoms I was showing, going in almost immediately. I also remember waiting for what seemed like a long while in pain as the reason for my pain was then known (gallbladder attack, painful but not likely to kill me). I saw a mother with a young child come into emergency and be taken in ahead of me. I had no complaints as who knows what was wrong with the child.

There are problems with the system but then there are problems with all systems. None are perfect. I remember several years ago hearing a friend of mine talking about a couple she knew in the States. They had a good plan, it only cost them $400 per month with a $1,000 deductable. I was paying $27 a month at the time with no deductable for what I needed medical help on. Of course costs have risen since then for both of us, I now pay $54 a month for a single person.

Answer 11

Stop listening to the politicians. We have a wonderful health care system here.