From general practitioner to treatment: Canadians' waited longer for health care in 2023
CTV
A new report from the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, says people waited longer in 2023 to receive treatment from a specialist. Here's where.
A new report by the Fraser Institute shows most Canadians waited longer to see a specialist and receive treatment in 2023.
According to the conservative-leaning think tank, the wait time for a referral from a general practitioner to getting treatment by a specialist increased to 27.7 weeks in 2023 from 27.4 weeks in 2022.
Each year, the Fraser Institute polls physicians from 12 specialties including radiation oncology, general surgery and internal medicine.
Seven of the 10 provinces in which physicians were surveyed saw increased wait times to see a specialist, according to the report published in early December. Three provinces saw shorter wait times than in 2022.
The data was collected from January to June and the institute received 1,269 responses.
"This year’s response rate (10.3 per cent) is lower than it has been in previous years, and thus should be interpreted with caution," the report notes.
This comes as health-care organizations, nurses' unions and physicians from across the country sound the alarms as wait times increase in other areas such as emergency departments.
