Is it true that you have to wait a long long time to see a doctor in Canada?

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Can Crasher

In some cases you do have to wait a while, but defiantly not 3 years! In some parts of Canada, Ontario for instance, you get free medical (GOD BLESS CANADA!) With it being free, people are more opt to visit the doctor for non life threatening cases. Most walk in clinics can see you with in the hour. As for doctors offices, it may take a week or two. People who have the common cold or ear infection usually head to walk in clinics. People who, say have something that is sore, usually go to their doctors. And people with life threatening illness go to the emergency (where you can sometimes what up to 3 hours, depending on your condition)

priceless.moments<3

:S If you have a health card, and live near a doctors office(walk in), you should be able to go in anytime you want. This is for basic things anyways. Some of the more serious illnesses it's possible that you might have to wait longer... but I highly doubt 3 years lol.

crank.the.radio

no not at all. the longest i have waited is 2 hours (without an appointment, and i didnt go there first thing int he morning)

thinkingtime

See a doctor? Same day if urgent, same week if not urgent. See a specialist? Four days for an emergency, eight weeks for less urgent.

All that stuff about huge waits comes from people in the US who are opposed to universal health care. They go after Canadians because of a convenient language.

Edit: one of the things to consider in Canada [like France] is that everyone is equal, rich or poor. So you may wait for a non urgent matter, instead of booking yourself into a private hospital if you are insured in the US.

However, you never run out of insurance cover for hospital and medical care and treatment and you do not lose cover when you lose your job.

PS I talked with someone from the US who was present when the parents of a child in a neurosurgical ICU were called to the phone., They were told that they had run out of insurance and warned to get the child moved somewhere else, asap.

Couldn't happen in Canada.

petey

that's completely 100% false, u only have to call ur doctor and make an appointment to see them but that's about it...that's just american propoganda used to convince them that they shouldn't have universal healthcare and to keep it a private business where companies can make alot of money from providing healthcare, Canada's policy is to provide healthcare for all citizens and not just the rich like the US does...Canada is a benevolent country...ps. americans hate Canada so they r biased..did u know that in the US, people cannot afford to see a Dr, so they go to ER for little things like the flu, people have died in the waiting rooms in US hospitals bc it's so overcrowded

Edit: no problem mon amie...p.s. I love France...

samfan121

I lived in Vancouver a couple of years ago and it was tough to find a local family doctor who was taking new patients but there were a lot of walk-in clinics so when I needed a prescription or something simple went there. You just turn up and wait maybe an hour or so.

I guess you might be put on a waiting list if you have to be referred to a specialist but 3 years sounds very wrong to me.

Dewey D

Depends where you live. I have never had to wait more than two days to get an appt and I can usually get one the same day. Housecalls are rare, but some doctors, like my father, will call on elderly people who can't make it to the office and very sick people.

J J

3 years sounds like a load.

Specialists are the ones you have to wait for, but usually no more than a few weeks to a few months depending what it is.

jobrolover36

i am guessing ur not canadian or are newly canadian..anyways no it does not take that long unless ur like waiting for a transplant or something..one time i went home from school with an ear infection and i saw a doctor that day

danyelle

That's great that they come to you house. wow, i'd like that.
it's not been my experience to wait unless you go to the emergency ward at the hospital. the wait can last 4 hours if it's busy and there are more serious cases.

most people get a regular doctor and book an appointment with him/her. usually a week in advance , or like in my clinic i can try to be squeezed in if i phone at 9am.
finding a good regular doctor however, can be difficult as many doctors don't take on new clients. it can take a few months to find a good one.

tuppenybitz

i have never had to wait to see a doctor in canada

Shelley

There are sometimes long waits for specialists I had to wait a few months to get in for surgery but it wasn't anything that would be life threatening by any means. I even got bumped up and had the wait time cut in half.
some areas do have shortages of family doctors but there are walk in clinics for those with out a family doctor. I have never had a long wait getting into my family doctor.

Dead Day Afternoon

It is easy and quick to see a doctor in the emergency room or a general gp, but it can take a long time if you need to see a specialist.

Eleryth

See a doctor, no. But you might have to wait a long time, maybe years, before you can get in as a new patient for some doctors (to have them as your family doctor), because they're so busy. I couldn't find any doctor in the town I was in for over a year because they weren't taking new patients (never did find one, and now I don't live there anymore).

The walk in clinics and the hospitals were still open, though, so it's not like those without family doctors don't get to see anyone.

LÃºta

3 years is pathetic. The waiting room sucks and you can wait hours. As for getting in to see a specific doctor for a regular check up, that can vary from one day to 4 months. Depending on what it is for determines how long you have to wait. I waited four hours to see a doctor and then was transferred for surgery to another doctor. I was booked for surgery two days later. Waited all day for the surgery though. So three years can't be right. Three months, yes.

Emma

Yeah sure you do. Canada's amazing but if you go into a doctors office for a cold chances are you'll be fine, probably 20 minutes at the most. If you go to a walk-in clinic then you'll wait longer. The 3 years thing was probably that whole problem with the MRI machines or how people had to wait a long time for certain surgeries. You have to wait everywhere... Canada's no exception.
Emma <3

Bird Flippin' expecting #2

We do have slightly long wait times depending on what kind of doctor you are seeing. 3 years is outrageous though.

FoxxPyre

well, it depends what you need done, hip replacements i think you could wait a few years, checkups you can usually get in few weeks... mind you, there was a guy who died because he was waiting in the waiting room for 3 days or so, yea, we need more hospital staff

rebecca r

depending on what you want to see the doctor about i guess

kristin

my friend lives there, and she said it is pretty bad, it takes a couple of months though! god bless america

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