Wait Times for Surgery Vault to Record High in Canada
Canadians seeking surgical or other therapeutic treatment faced a median wait time of 19.0 weeks in 2011, the longest wait time since 1993 when the Fraser Institute first began measuring wait times. According to the report:
- Wait times between 2010 and 2011 increased in both the delay between referral by a general practitioner to consultation with a specialist (rising to 9.5 weeks from 8.9 weeks in 2010), and the delay between a consultation with a specialist and receiving treatment (rising to 9.5 weeks from 9.3 weeks in 2010).
- The report calculates that, in 2011, the average wait for an appointment with a specialist after being referred by a general practitioner was 156 percent longer than in 1993, and 70 percent longer to receive treatment after seeing a specialist.
I can understand the rationale behind waiting lists for certain procedures that are likely to be abused or over-utilized. However, I cannot understand why there would be waiting lists for surgical procedures that are not likely to be abused. For instance, would a senior actually attempt to get a hip replacement if they didn’t need one? I doubt it.
And this is a country that is more economically free than the United States.
Psssst, don’t tell the national media…and virtually every single health care “expert.”
A perfect example of deeds vs. words. Canada’s system has all the right words, but the deeds are in short supply.
So, you wait five months. You may die, be unable to walk or in horrific pain, but, hey! It’s “free” health care, right?
Regarding increased wait lists for surgical procedures, aren’t doctors leaving the country (in Canada)? Fewer doctors means longer wait lists with the kind of system they have in place there.