The Universal Healthcare has been hailed as a holy grail of Canadian society. Many of the health reports published paint this publicly funded health system as a reflection of their core values. Such conclusions are easily made basing on the surveys that put Canadian satisfaction rate with the health system at 85%. There are however several problems with universal healthcare in Canada that have persisted over time.
The publicly funded health system is facing major challenges that threaten to render it unsustainable in the long run. The major areas of concerns include the patient average wait time, the shortage of professional medical personnel and the increasing challenges of funding.
The average time a patient will wait for a doctor is very long as indicated by 59% of respondents in one survey who reveals that they take an average of four weeks before they can get to see the doctor. This situation is particularly common among those patients seeking specialized treatments in areas of sight restoration, diagnostic imaging scan, cardiac surgery and joint replacement.
The challenge is particularly worse when it come to diseases that are classified as acute and requires specialized attention. Heart diseases, cancer, joint replacement, sight restoration and diagnostic imaging are some of the areas where Canada scores poorly in terms of waiting period before seeing a doctor.
The concern forced the government to develop a plan to address the issue in provincial hospitals by reducing wait time particularly in the areas of cancer, heart diseases, diagnostic imaging, sight restoration and joint replacement. The plan was enrolled in 2005 but the latest surveys still indicate waiting time as their number one concern. This is persistent in the areas of specialized surgery and elective surgery where this country continues to score poorly.
Shortage of Doctors and Other Health Professionals. This is also a major concern as revealed by health surveys in Canada which put it at the second position after the wait time. The problem is largely explained by the immigration of doctors across the border to the United States where the average pay for a doctor is slightly higher than that of Canada. The result is that there are large numbers of patients seeking treatment against few health professionals available in public hospitals.
Nurses are also not happy. They have put up demands which include an increase in numbers of nurses, better education and maximization of the scope of practice. Such concerns cannot be ignored as they play crucial role in success of this universal health system.
The government directs a huge portion of the budget into funding of the public healthcare. The strain has seen the national insurance failing to cover some supplemental benefits such as dental care. This means that the patients have to turn to private sources for treatments in such areas.
Despite all these problems with universal healthcare in Canada, the current data shows a significant improvement particularly in wait time which is the number one concern. Other positive indicators in the Canadian healthcare include high scores in survival rates in breast cancer and other forms of cancers as compared to many other developed economies. The larger majority of Canadian nationals are still in favor of this healthcare system. To them, only the shortcomings should be addressed.
The publicly funded health system is facing major challenges that threaten to render it unsustainable in the long run. The major areas of concerns include the patient average wait time, the shortage of professional medical personnel and the increasing challenges of funding.
The average time a patient will wait for a doctor is very long as indicated by 59% of respondents in one survey who reveals that they take an average of four weeks before they can get to see the doctor. This situation is particularly common among those patients seeking specialized treatments in areas of sight restoration, diagnostic imaging scan, cardiac surgery and joint replacement.
The challenge is particularly worse when it come to diseases that are classified as acute and requires specialized attention. Heart diseases, cancer, joint replacement, sight restoration and diagnostic imaging are some of the areas where Canada scores poorly in terms of waiting period before seeing a doctor.
The concern forced the government to develop a plan to address the issue in provincial hospitals by reducing wait time particularly in the areas of cancer, heart diseases, diagnostic imaging, sight restoration and joint replacement. The plan was enrolled in 2005 but the latest surveys still indicate waiting time as their number one concern. This is persistent in the areas of specialized surgery and elective surgery where this country continues to score poorly.
Shortage of Doctors and Other Health Professionals. This is also a major concern as revealed by health surveys in Canada which put it at the second position after the wait time. The problem is largely explained by the immigration of doctors across the border to the United States where the average pay for a doctor is slightly higher than that of Canada. The result is that there are large numbers of patients seeking treatment against few health professionals available in public hospitals.
Nurses are also not happy. They have put up demands which include an increase in numbers of nurses, better education and maximization of the scope of practice. Such concerns cannot be ignored as they play crucial role in success of this universal health system.
The government directs a huge portion of the budget into funding of the public healthcare. The strain has seen the national insurance failing to cover some supplemental benefits such as dental care. This means that the patients have to turn to private sources for treatments in such areas.
Despite all these problems with universal healthcare in Canada, the current data shows a significant improvement particularly in wait time which is the number one concern. Other positive indicators in the Canadian healthcare include high scores in survival rates in breast cancer and other forms of cancers as compared to many other developed economies. The larger majority of Canadian nationals are still in favor of this healthcare system. To them, only the shortcomings should be addressed.
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