Health Care in Canada

[Argus]

3 hours ago, Rue said:

Extreme pain is often a subjective complaint.   Any system  of health  care will priorize entry based on objective criteria so that drug addicts or others abusing the system by lying or exaggerating their symptoms can't push ahead of others in an emergency clinic.

As for any testing  in  any system there are bottlenecks. I get it can cause unfortunate delays but private systems have the same problems and the idea you can jump the line if you pay more is often a myth based on the notion some of us should be more entitled if we pay more. Medical services are most often administered based on an objective point system of imminent death or peril before non life threatening.

If someone is having seizures they will be treated for the seizures which is the priority. Yes finding out underlying causes can take quite some time due to the limit of resources available. Please show me how the same bottle necks do not occur in any non public system because they do for the same reasons.

Your antectdotal complaints are genuine examples of complaints in all medical treatment systems and inherent in human nature. That is to say no no one wants to wait and everyone feels entitled to immediate attention.

Does the system need adjusting? Probably. Do people also need attitude adjustments, probably.

My anecdotal complaints are complaints about things which everyone knows happen routinely and should not. If you go to a US hospital with good quality insurance complaining of seizures you'll get your MRI and other tests immediately, not a month or two later.

And pain is not subjective. It's very real. The problem is that Canada has among the lowest number of hospital beds and doctors among OECD nations. Canada has 9.97MRIs per 100k population. That's less than Chile or Turkey! Australia has 15. The US has 37. We also have the longest wait times to see a doctor at emergency rooms or to see a specialist. There's your stats for you, Rue.

[SpankyMcFarland]

14 hours ago, Rue said:

 

Here are some solutions:

1.facilitating patient exchange between provinces

2. more coupling of hospitals where specialties are not duplicated in both hospitals

3.more active screening of persons entering emergency rooms and in fact refusing entry and re-routing to 24 hour clinics

4.more active use of volunteers, medical students

5.more emphasis on education to prevent or manage illnesses in early stages

6.development of more nurse practitioners

7.creating two streams of ambulance service, on critical incident with paramedics, the other non critical with non paramedics

8.introduction of assisted death protocol for final stage illnesses as per state of Washington syetm

9.investigation of new approaches to incorporate private and public funding of medical services

10. access and use of medical devices and services on a 24  hour basis (as is being done now with mri's)

11.use of psychology, dentistry, physiotherapy and other adjunct medical services under OHIP tp enable faster release from hosptals.

 

 

Some good ideas there. Patient exchange would be complex because each province effectively has a separately funded system with its own de facto rules and standards. 

One minor thing I’d like to see is a national standard on how long one should expect to wait to see one’s FP after the scheduled appointment time. My own doc is virtually never late but I hear things about friends and relatives fuming in the waiting room for up to two hours after they should have been seen. Barring emergencies, which we all understand, doctors should realize that our time is valuable to us. One partial solution lies in apps that call you just before the doctor is ready to see you. However, the best solution would be for physicians to properly plan their work day. 

 

[SpankyMcFarland]

Here, I think, is the CIHI report referenced above. Let’s just say there are many excellent opportunities for improvement:

https://www.cihi.ca/sites/default/files/document/text-alternative-version-2016-cmwf-en-web.pdf

CIHI is a great site for objective data. It deserves more attention that it gets:

https://www.cihi.ca/en/international-comparisons

 

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by SpankyMcFarland

[J4L]

On 7/18/2019 at 4:38 PM, The Philosopher said:

Hi,

Does Anybody knows why the Healthcare system is not that good compared in the 90's when Jean-Chretien used to be in power ?

In the 90's the Healthcare system used to be better, you were not waiting that long to see a doctor, nurses were more present to take care of the patients (even if I have to admit that the vast majorities of the nurses are obligated to do overtime if the hospitals ask for it) it was easier and faster to have great healthcare services. What exactly happened ?  

Thank you

In Manitoba I notice the Government is turning all the Hospitals into "Urgent Care" Centres.  This process started nearly 20 years ago, when the Province turned the Misericordia Hospital into a Urgent Care centre.  Now they are doing it to two hospitals in Winnipeg at the same time- Seven Oaks and Concordia.

[SpankyMcFarland]

If you really want to get into the weeds on international health care comparisons, here's another good place to look:

https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/health-data.htm

Needless to say, health care stats by country are devilishly difficult to interpret. For example, outcomes in hospital may reflect more on the general health of the population or home care rather than what goes on in hospitals. Definitions differ as well and deciding what somebody died of is still a diverse and arbitrary business. 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by SpankyMcFarland