It is not fun to fall seek in Canada
By spiderman05
@spiderman05 (851)
Canada
March 14, 2007 9:06pm CST
Canada is known to be a first world country. Though, and at the same time, Canada has a health system that looks more than that of a third world country, to put it mildly.
If you ever decide to go to a clinic in Montreal, then you will have to be prepared, psychologically as well as physically, to spend around 3 hours in the waiting room. You finally hear a nurse calling your name, you head to another waiting room and you spend from 15 to 20 minutes there until a doctor decides to come to see you. The doctor asks you very quick questions before subscribing some medication and the whole process does not take more than a couple of minutes. All that for that? On top of that, the medication generally is just some antibiotics. The situation is even much worse if you need to get operated. In such cases, the waiting time might range from one year to one year and a half. It is no surprise that many Canadians head south to get hospitalized whenever they can afford it.
5 people like this
5 responses
@spiderman05 (851)
• Canada
15 Mar 07
That is surprising. Some people go to the US to get operated, to avoid the waiting times and in order to get hospitalized in better conditions.
2 people like this
@judyt00 (3497)
• Canada
15 Mar 07
We have a very GOOD health care system if you use it correctly. Stop going to drop in clinics and get yourself a regular doctor, and you will find things go much more quickly. At lest it isn't costing you thopusands ofdollars to get those antibiotics prescribed. My daughter works asa nurse in an urgent care clinic, and it only costs $30 to see a doctor if you areCanadian and unensured, and$250 if you are non Canadian. Try doing that in the States and it will cost you thousands.
2 people like this
@Anakata2007 (1785)
• Canada
19 Mar 07
true Canadian health care is free but that doesn't make it good, it only makes it free. A regular doctor doesn't do any good if he or she is no goood and you can't get another and are stuck with her. My regular doctor misdiagnosed me with strep throat TWICE and I ended up having to go to an emergency clinic (waiting 6-8 hours at a time) just to get antibiotics, I KNEW it was strep throat, but she just told me "I'm the doctor here, not you". I called the physicians and surgeons number to see if I could change doctors and there are NO doctors in my city that are accepting new patients at the moment so I'm stuck with this backwards hick doctor.
1 person likes this
@Anakata2007 (1785)
• Canada
19 Mar 07
Wow I have to say I agree with you completely. I spent 2 years in the medical system here, and two separate nights in the hospital. For one thing when I was in the hospital over night I guess someone forgot to clean the toilets and there was blood and sh1t on the floor all night. Then the next morning I went to the bathroom and there was a used adult diaper lying on the floor, it was there 3 hours later when I went back as well. I wish they would introduce a 2 tiered system so that people that can afford it can pay for better care. Kind of like legal aid.
@budsr03 (2350)
• Canada
15 Mar 07
What you say is true but, you didn't mention the hospital emergency room abuse. You wouldn't believe some of the reasons people are seeking treatment for. Simple colds, cuts a band aid could fix, adults with bumps and bruises little children get, etc etc etc. Now if these emergency room abusers would stop this nonsense then the waiting times and some of the Drs. and nurses could deal with the true emergencies. As for the long surgery waits, i can't explain my opinion. Maybe because of the many cutbacks.
Take care Spiderman.
@spiderman05 (851)
• Canada
15 Mar 07
You're right about emergency rooms. I know some people who go there for the reasons you mentioned in your reply, it is more like an outing for them. The waiting times in emergency rooms could, ironically, be much longer. I went there once and was advised by a nurse that the waiting time would be around 6 or 7 hours and that I would better go have supper and come back later in the evening.
The fact that all the fees are waved by the government leads to all kinds of abuses. It might be a good a idea to ask people to contribute in paying the bill (10% or even less of the total amount), just to prevent such abuses.
1 person likes this
@sigma77 (5383)
• United States
15 Mar 07
This is interesting. From what I have heard, social medicine is all the rage and much better than other types, like here in the states. All the liberals are begging for national health care in this country. Is your experience common? Or maybe, you just went on a bad day? With the way people complain about having to wait in line for anything in this country, I can't imagine the fits they will throw having to wait 3 hours for medical care. Thanks for your story.
2 people like this
@spiderman05 (851)
• Canada
15 Mar 07
It is a common situation here and not only a personal story. It is true we do not pay a penny when we go to see a doctor. All the fees are paid by the government/taxes. The drawback is that, some people tend to go to the doctor for the slightest problems which did not help improving this situation. Also, there is still a lack of doctors and nurses here.
1 person likes this
@butterflydawn (297)
• Canada
15 Mar 07
There are a lot of things that our health system simply does not pay for...ie. dentists, eye doctors-unless you are under 20 and over 65, prescriptions, certain medical proceedures, and certain doctors....
Then there are the long waiting lists. I am in need of knee replacement surgery. I'm still waiting to get an appointment with the surgeon....still haven't heard from them in weeks, then once I wait for months to maybe get into the specialist, I will then be put on a waiting list before I can get surgery done, and I've been told that I might have to wait 6 months to a year. Meanwhile somedays the pain is so bad I can't even move, medications won't stop the pain, and it keeps me up at night time. It has restricted my whole life in that I can hardly stand, walk around or do very much of anything at home, or away from home. I'm also one of those who definitely can't afford to go south...I can't hardly manage to get by and keep food on the table and pay bills these days.
2 people like this
@spiderman05 (851)
• Canada
15 Mar 07
I am sorry to hear that. I knew a person who was in a situation like yours. She could barely sleep too because of her knee and had to use a cane to walk. I think that she had to wait for more than 6 months for her surgery despite the fact that she went for a private (or semi-private) route. The surgeon actually rents a private clinic once a month and does some surgeries there, so it was still faster than getting the surgery at a public hospital.
1 person likes this
