Overall patient satisfaction outweighs wait times
You’re sick. You have been for about a week. A terrible cough accompanies a pounding headache, complete with a nose that runs like a tap.
You know it’s about time to give in and finally see a doctor, but when you call, the receptionist offers a date that’s a week from today. You know you need to get better, but feel like you can’t carve out the three hours in your day to go to the walk-in clinic either.
If any of this sounds relatively familiar, you are one of many other Canadians stuck with the predicament of waiting to receive health care.
In a recent article published by CBC News, it has been reported that Canadians will generally wait longer for health care treatment than in countries like the United States, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, to name a few involved in the study.
Forty-three per cent of Canadians were reported to have been able to book a same-day or next-day appointment with their family doctors or regular place of care, compared to New Zealand with 76 per cent and the Netherlands with 77 per cent.
Canada ranks far beneath the 57 per cent average of all countries within the study, making it one of the countries with the longest wait for patients to receive treatment.
In contrast to the wait times faced by Canadians, Canada’s health care system ranked the overall highest in patient satisfaction with their treatment.
The Canadian health care system scored better on meeting the individual needs of the patients, involving patients in decision making, and explaining treatment in a comprehensive manner.
Seventy-four per cent of respondents rated the quality of their health care to be “excellent or very good,” towering over the international average of 65 per cent.
Health care has been one of Canada’s defining traits as a nation. It is one of the few countries with a publicly funded health care system, allowing effective treatment to be a right for members of the nation.
Such a widely available system creates a surplus of people actively seeking treatment for their medical needs. This is a trait that naturally accompanies a public health care system. Rather than looking at this factor as a detriment to the system itself, it can be seen as somewhat of a testament to the effectiveness of health care in Canada as a whole. People are actively able to receive the necessary aid they require in a relatively accessible manner.
The incredibly high satisfaction rate further conveys the positive aspects of the health care system itself. Despite the extended time in waiting to receive health care, patients overall are satisfied with their care.
Photo by Mariah Bridgeman/The Ontarion.