The MEI highlights how waiting times for patients continue to worsen. Its senior economist says in 2019, the average wait time for medically necessary treatment was 10.1 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and getting a consultation with a specialist, a 173% increase compared to 1993. From referral to treatment, he says it takes an average of 20.9 weeks. As the think tank supports private healthcare enterprises, it also found:
- Specialists say average waiting times exceed what is clinically reasonable in 77% of cases;
- The worst gap is in orthopedic surgery, where 150,000 Canadians per year waited for eleven weeks longer than what specialists feel is clinically reasonable; and
- Neurosurgery wait times were a month longer than specialists felt was reasonable, cataract surgeries nearly two months longer and hip and knee replacements three months longer.
The MEI says with the wait times, more than 217 thousand Canadians made trips abroad in 2017 for healthcare, paying OOP for general surgeries (9,500), urology treatments (6,400) and diagnostic tests (5,000), including colonoscopies. The think tank claims the more successful healthcare systems' main difference with Canada is they allow the private sector to lend a hand.
Related:
Santé: plus d’un million de Canadiens attendent un traitement médical - IEDM
Hôpitaux canadiens : privatiser les soins pour réduire les temps d’attente? - Radio-Canada