The majority of CARPAction Online readers agree that health care in Canada hasn’t improved since the federal and provincial governments pledged $77 billion to address doctor shortages and wait times in 2003, nor do they find wait times have improved. Almost all have had a medical procedure requiring a hospital stay in the past five years, and close to half say they had to wait too long for it, although only a minority say this waiting period had a negative effect on their health.

When asked if they have seen an improvement in Canada’s health care system since federal and provincial governments pledged $77 billion in 2003, fully three quarters (73%) say no improvement has occurred.

When it is suggested that $5 billion of this was to address wait times, a further three quarters (73%) do not believe waiting times have improved since 2003.

The vast majority of readers of CARPAction Online have had a medical procedure requiring a hospital stay in the past five years (97%), and, of these, almost half say they had to wait too long (“far too long”/”somewhat too long” – 47%), with one quarter espousing the strongest position (“far too long” – 24%).

One third of those who had a hospital stay say the wait they endured negatively affected their health (34%).

Survey results are based on a self-selected sample of 525 members of CARP who received the organization’s online newsletter. Results can be said to be accurate within 4.5%, either up or down, at the 95% confidence level. That is, if all recipients of CARPAction Online were asked these questions, their answers would be within 4.5% of those shown here, 19 out of 20 times asking the identical question.

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