Physician Shortage Decreases Access to Care, Confidence in Canadian Health Care System
The New York Times on Sunday examined how confidence in Canada's publicly funded health insurance system -- "a prideful jewel for most Canadians, who see it as an expression of communal caring" -- is eroding as a doctor shortage is making access to care more difficult. According to the Times, many politicians "remain reticent to urge increasing privatization of services." Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin this week in a televised health care summit meeting will seek to "reverse the current view among many Canadians that his government is vacillating and may well fall next year" and hopes to address the issue of slow access to care by reducing wait times for diagnostic tests, cancer treatment and elective surgery.
Effects of Doctor Shortage
A 2002 Canadian Senate report found that although the number of family doctors in the country has decreased only slightly, the demands of an aging population have increased. Other studies have shown that family doctors are working shorter hours, while younger doctors "are more likely to seek the most lucrative work in cities or go to the United States," according to the Times. Moreover, the shortage of doctors is affecting the economies of small towns that aim to attract business and is "taxing the energies of the doctors who do live in those towns, as well the resources of local hospitals," the Times reports. Some Canadian cities have begun offering "large monetary incentives" and a "grab bag of perks" such as Y.M.C.A. memberships, cable television subscriptions and "the inside track" on real estate next to golf courses to encourage doctors to practice in their towns, according to the Times. Joseph D'Cruz, a University of Toronto business school professor specializing in health care, said, "If the current trends continue, we can anticipate a crisis. People will actually find it impossible to get general medical services in their towns" (Krauss, New York Times, 9/12).
