LOLOL!!!!! That is too funny!
When in Toronto last year, my mother who is in the health insurance business did a survey of people she met. 100% satisfied and reports of no waiting whatsoever.
Wait-times report delivers good and bad news
Updated Tue, 07 Mar 2006 17:38:08 EST
CBC News
Most Canadians are getting the care they need when they need it, but a small number are still waiting too long for surgery, a new report suggests.
Some people wait longer than others for various reasons, including extenuating physical or health conditions, said Graham Scott of the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which prepared the five-year report released Tuesday.
"Or sometimes people will exercise a choice not to proceed at a certain time and lose their place on the list," added Scott.
The report, compiled from data up to 2005, found many waits begin long before a diagnosis is even made. Up to 40 per cent of the time can be spent awaiting a referral to a specialist or a decision on whether to book surgery, it noted.
The report hits close to home for Canadians like Tony Gahan, who finds it painful to get around because of a problem knee.
Gahan, a Winnipeg resident, injured his knee years ago playing hockey and has had 13 operations. He now suffers from arthritis and needs a new knee, but his wait time is approaching two years.
"I feel I slipped between the cracks," said Gahan. "They tell you you're on the waiting list, but it doesn't mean anything."
Hospital Waiting Times in Canada Longer
Daily Policy Digest
Health Issues
Monday, October 01, 2001
Despite a massive infusion of federal spending on health care, waiting lists in Canada have grown significantly. Total waiting time for patients between referral from a general practitioner and treatment, averaged across all 12 specialties and 10 provinces surveyed, rose from 13.1 weeks in 1999 to 16.2 weeks in 2000-01 (a 23.7 percent increase), according to a Fraser Institute study.
Canada-wide, total waiting time increased significantly in 2000-01 and its level is high, both historically and internationally. Compared to 1993, waiting time in 2000-01 is 69 percent higher. Moreover, academic studies of waiting time have found that Canadians wait longer than Americans and Germans for cardiac care, although not as long as New Zealanders or the British.
Among the significant findings of the study:
The rise in waiting time between 1999 and 2000-01 is principally a result of an increase in the waiting time between GP referral and specialist consultation -- increasing from 4.9 weeks in 1999 to 7.2 weeks in 2000-01, an increase of 46.9 percent.
Waiting time between specialist consultation and treatment increased for Canada as a whole between 1999 and 2000-01, rising from 8.2 to 9.0 weeks, an increase of 9.8 percent.
Throughout Canada, the total number of people estimated to be waiting for treatment was 878,088 in 2000-01, an increase of 3 percent between 1999 and 2000-01.
The highest percentage of patients seeking treatment outside of Canada were those in need of radiation oncology (5.6 percent). For all specialties, 1.7 percent of patients left the country to receive treatment.
Source: Michael Walker and Greg Wilson, "Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada," Critical Issues Bulletin, September 2001, Fraser Institute, 4th Floor 1770 Burrard Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 3G7, Canada, (604) 688-0221.
For text:
fraserinstitute.ca
For more on Canadian Health Care
ncpa.org
Medical organizations release report, hospital waiting times
By Roy Whyte
Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto.
Photo -
Seven National Medical Organizations Release Report On Wait Times
Seven national medical organizations have united to release an interim report examining the problem of wait times for health care in Canada and to establish new benchmarks for medically acceptable wait times for care.
The Wait Time Alliance of Canada (WTA) released an interim report today. The Report outlines evidence-based benchmarks for medically acceptable wait times for access to care in: heart, cancer, diagnostic imaging, joint replacement and sight restoration.
The report is a direct response to the commitment made by First Ministers in September 2004 (10-Year Plan to Strengthen Health Care) to establish evidence-based benchmarks for medically acceptable wait times in the five priority areas. With the deadline fast approaching (December 31, 2005), Federal-Provincial-Territorial governments have commissioned research on this issue, but have yet to come forward with a process to develop national benchmarks.
"We have an important role to play in this process," said Cardiologist and spokesperson for the WTA, Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai. "Front line health care providers played a key role leading up to that agreement, pushing for greater accessibility and accountability in the system. Now that the time has come to implement that Accord, we are acting again, for the good of our patients."
The report - "No More Time to Wait" - identifies wait time thresholds for these five areas, beyond which best available evidence and clinical consensus indicate patient health is likely to be adversely affected. The report also provides governments with recommendations on establishing a framework to improve access and reduce wait times.
"The First Ministers' Plan offers the promise of better access to health services, but fulfilling that promise requires real work, right now," said Normand Laberge, WTA spokesperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Association of Radiologists. "This report is a starting point for an informed discussion that will lead to development of national wait time benchmarks. What is needed now is the political will for governments to act to fulfil their collective commitment."
This interim report represents the consensus of clinical working groups assembled by each of the six participating national specialty societies. The WTA's final report, to be released in August, 2005, will present completed evidence-based benchmarks and give governments a comprehensive implementation plan on how to achieve these benchmarks and set targets to improve access.
"This interim report is the first cut. We intend to use these findings to consult with patients, governments and with other stakeholders," said Dr. Collins-Nakai. "Our goal is always to be helpful and constructive. Much more work is needed to ensure that patients can benefit from improved access and shorter wait times for health services - but we have to start here and now. There really is "No More Time to Wait."
The Wait Time Alliance of Canada (WTA) is comprised of the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Association of Radiologists, the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine, the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncologists, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, and the Canadian Orthopaedic Association.
The report is available under embargo at cma.ca
Waiting for the Cure
By Robert Sheppard, CBC.ca Reality Check Team | Dec. 12, 2005 | More Reality Check
Background
In September 2004, promising to "fix medicare for a generation," Prime Minister Paul Martin pledged $41.5 billion to the provinces over 10 years to hire more doctors and nurses, and find smarter ways to reduce the increasingly long waiting lists that were undermining Canadian support of the health-care system. As part of the deal, the two levels of government promised to come up with what they called "evidence-based benchmarks" in five key areas—cancer treatment, heart surgery, diagnostic imaging, joint replacements and cataract removals—by the end of 2005. This they did Monday, in the midst of the federal election campaign, adding fuel to the debate begun by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper at the outset of the contest when he pledged what he called a Patient Wait Times Guarantee.
INDEPTH: Private and public health care FAQs
What is being promised
The benchmarks propose radiation treatment for cancer victims within four weeks of being ready for treatment. That compares with the current wait of three to 6.5 weeks, depending on the province, according to the annual wait times report from the Fraser Institute in Vancouver.
Earlier in the campaign, Harper said he would like to see waits for radiation set at about 10 days, same as that proposed earlier this year by the Wait Times Alliance, a coalition of health-care groups led by the Canadian Medical Association.
For hip and knee replacements, the benchmarks say patients should be operated on within 26 weeks of being seen by a specialist. The current reality ranges from 16 to 54 weeks; the Wait Times Alliance suggests 24 weeks, while Harper has set 40 weeks as his limit.
For the others, where there are not the same comparisons, the benchmarks would have cataract removal done within 16 weeks for patients deemed at high risk; breast cancer screening for women 50 to 69 every two years and cervical cancer screening for women 18 to 69 every three; and cardiac bypass surgery within six weeks for those deemed at moderate risk.
What is missing
Targets. The benchmarks are basically a best-efforts goal by the provinces to come up with long-range standards that they can implement beginning in 2007. They are not what health-care experts call targets—specific plans to treat a set number of patients within an allocated time. As well, the benchmarks tackle only those wait times that begin when a patient sees a specialist, not the GP, which is where many of the bottlenecks in the system occur.
MRIs. The benchmarks are suspiciously silent on the whole area of diagnostic testing, one of the five clinical areas specifically set out in the 2004 federal-provincial deal. This is because some provinces, notably Ontario, are trying to limit the use of MRIs and PET scans for some kinds of services, questioning their validity. Some also wish to use private clinics to provide these services.
Care guarantees. The benchmarks are simply goals of what medical science says patients should expect to wait for specific procedures. They are not legally enforceable guarantees. Only Harper has come close to making such a commitment. His Patient Wait Times Guarantee promises that if patients are not treated within an acceptable period in their own regions, they must be provided with the option to be treated in another hospital or even a private clinic outside their own province.
What the parties are saying
Harper said his proposals and patient guarantee would stay within the $41.5-billion budget established by the Liberals. He says he is not proposing two-tier medicine but also went out of his way to say he would not shut down the private clinics that are being increasingly used in some western provinces in particular to help alleviate wait times.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has not yet released a detailed health-care strategy but he reiterates at almost every campaign stop that no future federal funding should go to for-profit clinics. That's a position that could prove more politically explosive after Jan. 23, should he hold the balance of power.
Liberal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, one of the key negotiators of the benchmark announcement, claimed it is a watershed moment in medicare history that will now give Canadians a clear idea of what to expect when waiting for specific procedures. However, given what the Supreme Court of Canada said earlier this year, in its landmark ruling on the Quebec system—that wait times are killing patients and the provinces better do something about them—merely having an idea of what to expect might not be enough.
For more information
At least seven provinces—B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia—now have websites with their own wait time registries for specific procedures. These can be found through the Canada Health Agency site (PDF file).
The Canadian Medical Association is one of the key groups in the Wait Times Alliance.
A CBC in-depth report on health care. |
