TORONTO - A survey of Canadian doctors has given the battle to reduce health-care waiting times a marginal or failing grade, saying it is "ballooning'' wait times for services not covered by the federal government's five priority areas.
The survey, conducted for the Canadian Medical Association, found doctors believe the wait time strategy is fostering the emergence of "have'' and "have not'' specialties in medicine.
"This consultation shows that there is a real and growing balloon effect. In other words the priority in some areas is causing some less priority in other areas,'' CMA president Dr. Colin McMillan said during a briefing on the results of the survey.
"Waiting for health care still remains the single most important issue facing Canadian patients today. We see this every day. I see it in my practice. We see it in this research. And most importantly we see it when our colleagues relate to us their patients' stories.''
"While there's been some very positive action on wait times, patients and the doctors who care for them are still waiting too long.''
All physicians, residents and medical students were invited to complete the survey, which was posted online last fall. The CMA had set a minimum target of 1,000 respondents; instead, 4,127 doctors and medical students completed the workbook.
The results point to dissatisfaction with the way the attack on wait times is shaping up.
The combined efforts of governments to address wait times in targeted areas earned a D (poor) or F (very poor) grade from 57 per cent of respondents. Only 13 per cent felt the effort was producing excellent (A) or good (B) results.
Almost half of respondents said the effort to reduce wait times for cancer, cardiac care, diagnostic imaging, joint replacement and sight restoration had not relieved pressures on the specialty care sector. And 55 per cent of doctors and medical residents working in the priority specialties said not enough resources had been made available to achieve targets.
Further, 59 per cent of survey respondents said they believe waiting times are going to worsen, not improve.
McMillan said the areas targeted for wait time benchmarks need to be expanded. The CMA didn't offer a complete list, but suggested children's health, mental health and emergency department service ought to be included.
"Every one of our patients is a priority,'' he said.
The medical association urged governments to attack the problem of health-care worker shortages and said the impact of wait time benchmarking has to be carefully monitored to see that it isn't having unintended and unwanted effects.
