To any Canadians or Candian/Americans.?

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dan m

Things are not a rosey as Michael Moore outlines in this most recent documentary. Not as bad as some neo-con commentators in the US say.
The level of service will really depends where you live and what medical care you are looking for. For general health (colds, flu, scraped knee etc) you can see your family doctor or go to walk-in clinics - same day usually. For things like check-ups & physicals you may wait several weeks (but these would be something you plan ahead anyway). for urgent attention, depending on the severity of the problem, you can go to the walk-in clinics or the emergency section of the local hospital. Here the service is triaged ... your wait can be minutes or many hours. Last summer I had an eye injury (uncomfortable, not overly painful) late on a sunday night. Went to the local hospital at 10 pm - the nurse gave me some magical eye drops for comfort every 30-45 min ... and I waited 5 hours to see a doctor. Got a referral to see a specialist the next day.

There are 2 main problems:
1) Most problems come in smaller more remote communities - where attracting doctors and specialists is difficult.
2) Referrals and treatment from specialists can be a problem. I have a friend who needs back surgery in a bad way. It took a month to see a specialist - the diagnosis was surgury will be required. He'll likely wait 6 months to get. See problem #1. My mother had some heart issues ... was seen by her family doctor in a day and referred to a specialist one day later - and was in treatment within 3 days.

So there is good and bad.

Good: no matter your income, you will get care. No families get forced into bankruptcy because someone got sick and their insurance company decided they didn't want to cover. Health care is much less of a consumer product here. Is 1 out of every 2 commercials in the US an ad for some magic pill? The 23 side effects rhymed off in 10 seconds just cracks me up.
Bad: taxes are higher. service can sometimes be slow. smaller remote communities can have problems.

Beeg Juan

Last time I called my family doctor he said to come in the next day.

whozzit

You can go to a walk in clinic and get seen by a doctor right away.

If you have something life threatening, you will also be treated right away.

If you have to have something done that is non life threatening you get treated when they have treated all the life threatening cases.

If you want elective surgery you wait.

loftboy

If you are referring to just visiting your family doctor, the wait is not 5 weeks, more like 3 or 4 days. If you want to see a specialist such as a heart surgeon etc, yes you may have to wait 5 weeks or more. If you need immediate medical attention, you can go to a walk in clinic where there is a doctor who will see you within the hour or to the hospital emergency ward where you will get medical attention with a hour or so.

Minton quest

Depends if it is a specialist or a family doctor. I can usually see my family doctor the day I call.

Explorer

its not true.
It depends on your doctor and how urgent the appointment is.
If you are just seeing your GP, you can get appointments in a few days. Canada also has lots of walk in clinics so you will be seen by a doctor within an hour.
The only time it takes 5 weeks is when you are booking surgery.

SteveN

Yes and no.

If you have a family doctor in Canada, it makes it easier to get medical attention. You see your family doctor in usually 1-5 days with an appointment.

If your doctor decides you need to see a specialist for a condition, he will refer you to that person, and you will then need another appointment there. That could take weeks if the specialist is in demand, or if there is a shortage in your area.

However, in emergency situations, you can always go to a hospital emergency ward and try to see the general practitioners that are available that day. This may have several hours wait depending on your situation and the number of other people in the emergency ward.

Here are a few examples from my recent experiences in the health system in Quebec, so it will perhaps give you an idea of the services:

October 2002, my father has been having problems with pain in the left side of his shoulder and makes an appointment to see a specialist as he feels he may have heart trouble. They give him an appointment for May 2003. In April 2003, he suffers a heart attack and has to undergo emergency surgery to insert stents and free the blockage.

November 2005, my mother goes to the hospital for chest pains, and is taken immediately. It turned out to be a gall-bladder attack and required an operation.

January 2006, my cousin falls down her apartment stairs and hurts her leg. Her husband takes her to emergency, where she waits 11 hours to see a doctor. It ends up being a torn ligament.

March 2006, my father sees his blood pressure rise unexpectedly. We go to emergency and he is taken immediately. Within 10 minutes, he is resting in a bed and on monitors to check heart rate, pulse, etc. It ended up that the medication he was on was not adequately controlling the blood pressure and so they switch him to a new medication (after 4 days in observation)

So if you have a life-threatening condition, you will be taken pretty much immediately. On the other hand, if you show up for less serious issues, you may wait a while. And until you are diagnosed with an actual issue, you may need to wait long periods.

Also, as much as 25% of the Canadian population do not have a family doctor (myself included). We rely on the public doctors at the hospitals or neighbourhood clinics.

There is currently a shortage of family doctors in Canada, many of which are headed south for better pay at private clinics in the US. Sadly, the Canadian government have been slow to respond to the needs and did not have their priorities right. If you want to see bureaucracy in action, a hospital near my house has just received a multi-million dollar government grant to expand their hospital and add a new floor and increase the amount of beds available. Yet after receiving the grant, the local newspaper reported recently that the same hospital had to close access to 30 beds because they did not have sufficient doctors and staff to properly attend to the existing patients!

Violet c

I'm Canadian and I keep hearing the same thing but I don't know where that information is coming from. I am in Ontario. I had a heart attack a few months ago, ambulance was there in less than 8 minutes and on the operating table within 2 hours. I just made an appointment to see my cardiologist for three weeks from now (seeing him before isn't necessary) I don't know how much faster people want to be seen. If I needed a doctor for anything I would go to my family doctor first (maybe a week for an appt) and he would make the appointment. If necessary the referral would be within a few days, if not so important I could wait months. I think some may be complaining about the emergency room wait in hospitals which is always 5 - 6 hours because there are idiots who cut their finger 2 weeks ago and decided today its an emergency. If a real emergency comes in while Mr. Cut Finger is waiting, too bad, Mr. Cut Finger will wait while the emergency patient is being looked after. Excellent question thank you for giving me the opportunity of expressing this. It drives me nuts when I hear about these wait times.

nad_ine

It depends. A specialist can take 6 months or even a year. My family doctor has already made me wait a few weeks to be seen and when you go and see a walk in doctor most of the time they prescribe a drug that isn't necessary and you end up having to see your regular doctor a few weeks later. Wait times for physicals are usually longer; a few weeks or even a few months. Things like x-rays and blood work can be done the same day but you'll have to wait sometimes a few hours before you're seen. Ultra sounds, c.t. scans etc... can range from 1 month to a year. Our medical system is free but it's so top heavy (too many managers in the hospitals and not enough staff) that people who could've been saved have been dying (cancer etc...). On the plus side everyone has access to care but thats pretty much the only positive thing i have to say.

blazek35

I have a roommate that said that it could take a month to get in for a physical. It really depends on the severity of the problem.

andy

It depends if you need to see a specialist or your family doctor. You usually can get into your family doctor the same day or soon after this if it is urgent. My doctor though for physicals books 2 to 3 months in advance. Some types of specialists can take months - again they will usually see you faster if it is very urgent . If you go to emergency, and is not life threatening it can take 8 hours or more. I'm from Toronto, Canada.

nbr660

I'm American living in Canada, my doctor has always been within 1 or 2 days but I live in a small town. Maybe in the big city it takes long, I couldn't say.

bin there dun that

Specialists usually take at least two weeks, usually a couple of months.
My doctor leaves a couple of appointments a day for emergencies, so you could get in if it was urgent. Otherwise, within a week.

Grand pa

specialists in Canada some times take time. In BC we have walkin clinics for gp may be one hour for non emergency . at least we have medicare for all

fire and ice

I have a friend who said it takes 4 to 5 weeks sometimes even longer. she is from canada.

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