Cooniedog wrote:
I'm just curious about the health care systems in Canada & Great
Britain. They are currently running TV ads here in the States saying
that Canadians and Brits are refused certain health care or have months
and even years of delays before they receive treatments for some illnesses.

I would like to hear from some of the Canadian and British readers of
the sawdust wreck about what it is really like you you respective
countries when it comes to health care.

One problem that I see is that everyone wants the latest and greatest
treatment, which generally translates to much more expensive. If a
treatment is 5% better, but 10x the price, should we as a population go
for it? It's easy to say no, until the patient is someone you know.

Health care is locally governed, so there are going to be regional
differences. For reference, I'm in my 30s, and live in Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada, a city of a bit over 200000 people.

Wait times have been an issue in the past and continue to be an issue
for certain types of treatment--generally expensive/complicated things
like MRI, cancer, heart, hip/knee replacement, cataract surgery, etc.
My father-in-law had hip surgery and did need to wait a bit. I've heard
anecdotally that these times are coming down around here though.

Usually it takes a few days to a week if I want to book an appointment
with my family doctor, but for more urgent things I can go to a clinic
or to the Emergency ward at the hospital.

I broke two fingers while traveling, and received both physiotherapy and
occupational therapy to help get mobility and strength back in those
fingers. No delays in getting treatment. Similarly, getting in to see
a chiropractor is easy.

My wife and I just had our first child. No significant delays,
generally good care. We did pay for a doula to help us through the
process, but midwives are covered in some areas and that might be an
option for next time.

Chris