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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134<br />
<strong>Health</strong> systems in transition <strong>Canada</strong><br />
7.3 User experience and equity of access to health care<br />
7.3.1 User experience<br />
In response to growing levels of public dissatisfaction (see section 2.9 and<br />
Table 7.2) originally rooted in the public cost cutting of the early to mid-1990s,<br />
there has been a discernible trend towards re<strong>for</strong>ms that will make the health<br />
system more responsive to patients. This movement, loosely termed patientcentred<br />
care, has become increasingly important in <strong>Canada</strong> as described in<br />
section 2.9.5. It is too early to determine the impact of these changes along<br />
with other provincial and territorial re<strong>for</strong>ms aimed at making the system more<br />
responsive.<br />
Table 7.2<br />
Patient views on waiting times, access and health systems, <strong>Canada</strong> and selected<br />
OECD countries, 2010 (% of respondents in Commonwealth Fund survey)<br />
Country<br />
Wait <strong>for</strong><br />
elective<br />
surgery<br />
(> 4 months)<br />
Wait <strong>for</strong><br />
specialist<br />
appointment<br />
(> 2 months)<br />
% of respondents<br />
Difficulty<br />
getting<br />
after-hours<br />
care without<br />
going to ED<br />
Access to<br />
doctor or<br />
nurse<br />
when sick<br />
Wait to see<br />
doctor or<br />
nurse<br />
when sick<br />
(> 5 days)<br />
Overall view<br />
that health<br />
system needs<br />
fundamental<br />
change or<br />
rebuilding<br />
Australia 18 28 59 65 14 75<br />
<strong>Canada</strong> 25 41 65 45 33 61<br />
France 7 28 63 62 17 58<br />
Sweden 22 31 68 57 25 53<br />
United Kingdom 21 19 38 70 8 37<br />
United States 7 9 63 57 19 68<br />
Source: Schoen, Osborn & Squires (2010).<br />
In the past decade, patient dissatisfaction has focused on the long waiting<br />
times <strong>for</strong> advanced diagnostics, specialist services and elective (non-urgent)<br />
surgery. Waiting times have also been an issue in some hospital emergency<br />
departments in urban centres. Finally, access to primary care – especially in<br />
those communities where there is a shortage of family physicians or where<br />
family physicians are refusing to take on new patients – has also fuelled patient<br />
dissatisfaction. These problems are reflected in a comparative study conducted<br />
by the Commonwealth Fund in 2010 (Schoen, Osborn & Squires, 2010).<br />
Table 7.2 presents the results of the Commonwealth Fund’s survey data <strong>for</strong><br />
<strong>Canada</strong> and its five comparator countries. In terms of the patient experience<br />
with waiting times <strong>for</strong> elective surgery, specialist services and basic medical