Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
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5. Provision of services<br />
Although it is difficult to generalize given the decentralized nature of<br />
health services administration and delivery in <strong>Canada</strong>, the typical<br />
patient pathway starts with a visit to a family physician, who then<br />
determines the course of basic treatment, if any. Family physicians act as<br />
gatekeepers: they decide whether their patients should obtain diagnostic tests,<br />
prescription drug therapies or be referred to medical specialists. However,<br />
provincial ministries of health have renewed ef<strong>for</strong>ts to re<strong>for</strong>m primary care<br />
in the last decade. Many of these re<strong>for</strong>m ef<strong>for</strong>ts focus on moving from the<br />
traditional physician-only practice to interprofessional primary care teams that<br />
provide a broader range of primary health care services on a 24-hour, 7-day-aweek<br />
basis. In cases where the patient does not have a regular family physician<br />
or needs help after regular clinic hours, the first point of contact may be a<br />
walk-in medical clinic or a hospital emergency department.<br />
Illness prevention services including disease screening may be provided<br />
by a family physician, a public health office or within a dedicated screening<br />
programme. All provincial and territorial governments have public health<br />
and health promotion initiatives. They also conduct health surveillance and<br />
manage epidemic response. While PHAC develops and manages programmes<br />
supporting public health throughout <strong>Canada</strong>, most day-to-day public health<br />
activities and supporting infrastructure remains with the provincial and<br />
territorial governments.<br />
Almost all acute care is provided in public or non-profit-making private<br />
hospitals in <strong>Canada</strong>, although some specialized ambulatory and advanced<br />
diagnostic services may be provided in private profit-making clinics. Most<br />
hospitals have an emergency department that is fed by independent emergency<br />
medical service units providing first response care to patients while being<br />
transported to emergency departments.<br />
5. Provision of services