SPECIALIST WAIT TIMES IN CANADA LONGER THAN EVER: FRASER INSTITUTE

Nov 23, 2016

By Jane Brown

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Canadians hoping for treatment from medical specialists are waiting longer than ever.

A new Fraser Institute report finds the average Canadian is waiting around 20 weeks to receive treatment from a specialist.

Procedures include opthalmology, gynaecology, general surgery and oncology.

Co-author Bacchas Barua says over a span of about 25 years, the wait time to see a specialist in Canada has increased by about 115-percent. But he says this has very little to do with our universal health care system because other countries with universal health care don’t have the long wait times we routinely see in Canada.

Barua says countries like Switzerland, Germany, Australia and The Netherlands do three things differently. Firstly, they embrace the private sector, either as a partner with the public sector or as an alternative. Secondly, they usually have some form of cost sharing with patients and thirdly, most fund their hospitals based on activity which encourages hospitals to provide treatment.

Bacchas Barua will be a guest on Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back with Libby Znaimer after the noon news today.

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