Canadian health-care workers have expressed concern that the country's overburdened health-care system could lead to a dangerous surge in the number of patients in emergency rooms in the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year's. It urges prospective patients to exhaust other available options before going to the hospital. .
This month, reports emerged that wait times to see a doctor, particularly specialists, in Canada are among the longest in the country's modern history, with thousands of Canadians dying on waiting lists for life-saving medical interventions. With the publication of the book, the holidays are approaching.
Canada boast public universal health care system, socialist program There, the government uses taxpayer dollars to pay for most services, and all Canadians are covered by universal health care. Canadian patients have long suffered from long waits to receive the treatment they need, sometimes fatal wait times, and access to substandard and minimal alternatives to treatments banned by the government. It's done. Socialists often tout Canada as a model for the world, pioneering universal health care, condemnation Obvious shortcomings in the system regarding “underfunding” are pointed out, and there is little explanation of the exact amount that would guarantee a functioning system.
write in global and email Physician James Maskalik lamented this month that emergency rooms often struggle to handle the high volume of patients. That's because Canadians stuck in the emergency room are using it instead of their increasingly inaccessible family doctor or social services for the poor beyond their medical needs. Because there is.
“Around true emergencies, there are people accessing not just medical care but other forms of basic care, including food, clothing, shelter and even safety,” Maskalik said. “If you come to the ER, know that you'll be triaged right away, but then you'll often have to wait forever.”
“For those who are sickest, we make space immediately. Otherwise, time of day is more important than most people realize. Hospitals, and by extension ERs, are We operate at maximum staffing. Mondays are almost always the busiest, so it's best to come at 8am instead of 8pm,” the doctor advised.
Dr. Maskalik said that in addition to struggling to deal with issues that emergency rooms aren't always equipped for, such as “dressing” and “safety,” the rest of the hospital often suffers from severe bed shortages. It was pointed out that
“If you ask ER doctors and nurses what their biggest source of stress is, you might hear that they have fewer beds available to see new patients,” he said. They are in separate units. People in the waiting room may cite the lack of a primary care physician as a reason. The demand is too great. ”
Maskalik recommended “fundamental health reform” in the long term. In the short term, he suggested Canadians should try avenues of service other than emergency rooms, if possible.
“If your problem is not urgent but timely, consider not only your primary care physician but also walk-in clinics, urgent care centers, or the growing number of virtual options. Some pharmacists can prescribe for simple conditions. Some people are trained to do so,” he said.
Horizon Health Network, which manages New Brunswick's public health system, proactively responded to concerns about emergency room performance during the Dec. 17 holiday. I followed you What the CBC called, and the unfortunate “emergency department hospital holiday squeeze” of 2023.
as gloves and mail He noted that a lack of free beds for patients who require more time in the hospital is a major challenge in keeping emergency rooms functioning. “Lack of nursing home space continues to be the number one reason for hospital capacity shortages,” Horizon CEO Margaret Melancon told CBC.
“About 38 per cent of Horizon's hospital beds are occupied by patients who need long-term care, but there is not enough space for them,” CBC said.
“This is the reality we live with every day, and it continues to put a tremendous strain on our medical teams and resources, and our ability to provide the kind of care that people in this state deserve. ,” Melancon said.
The CEO said that in anticipation of growing demand, Horizon is adding dozens of hospital beds in the state and adding “mental health services to divert some patients from the emergency room.” He said it is expanding.
Horizon also appears to be pressuring individual clinics to increase their operating hours to keep patients away from hospitals.
Melancon told CBC: “There are discussions with many clinics to encourage them to be available on certain days and times during the holiday period to also care for their own patients.” spoke. “I would say we definitely followed up and planned more diligently than we did last year.”
Long wait times for doctors have been a serious problem in Canada for the past two decades, and have worsened under radical leftist Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. the study published The Frazier Institute announced this month that in 2023, the average wait time in Canada to receive a referral from a general practitioner and see a specialist will be 30 weeks, “more than expected for Canadian patients in 1993.” This is a record of 222% longer than the previous 9.3 weeks.
The institute observed that “after seeing a specialist, Canadian patients waited 6.3 weeks longer than their physician considered clinically reasonable (8.6 weeks).” “Patients also experienced significant delays regarding diagnostic techniques: CT scans took 8.1 weeks, MRI scans took 16.2 weeks and ultrasounds took 5.2 weeks.”
Although not all prolonged delays have serious medical consequences for patients, some studies suggest that many can even lead to fatal situations. Canadian healthcare news agency Healthing noticed Think tank Second Street announced last week that it had discovered that thousands of Canadians die while their names are on waiting lists for various health services.
“Data conducted to reflect the full year 2022-2023 showed that 17,032 patients died,” Healthring reported. Surgery or hip replacement? ”
“This data shows that the number of deaths on the waiting list has increased by nearly 67% over the past five years, and by 30% from 2022 to 2023,” it added.
