fixhealthcarenow - CARP

CARP demands political leaders publicly commit to fixing health care by next election

In order to prioritize our Members’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re postponing our Fix Health Care Now campaign until further notice.

We are changing focus to provide critical updates and engage our members on the coronavirus outbreak, keeping the health of our communities as our top priority.

View our COVID-19 coverage here

Canada overspends and underperforms compared to other OECD countries with comparable health care systems.

CARP has sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and all provincial and territorial First Ministers, demanding a public commitment to fix Canada’s woefully underperforming healthcare system.

CARP’s Chief Policy Officer, Marissa Lennox, said in the letter that Canada spends 10.7% of GDP on healthcare, putting us 6th highest among OECD countries. “Yet the health outcomes we receive are, by any measure, mediocre to abysmal when compared to other countries of similar wealth,” she said. “If this money was viewed in the same context as a mutual fund, we would have fired the fund manager years ago.”

CARP called on the leaders to stop bickering over money and focus instead “on achieving clinical outcomes” that are comparable with other countries that spend less and get more.

CARP’s demand – and details of its campaign to mobilize CARP Chapters and Canadians across the country to add their individual voices – were unveiled at CARP’s Annual General Meeting in Toronto on February 27th.

Here are some examples of Canada’s underperformance:

  • In Scotland, 93% of patients see their GP in 48 hours. In Canada, only 43% of patients do
  • In Denmark, the wait time for cataract surgery is less than 40 days, versus 112 days in Canada
  • In Canada, 18% of patients wait four months or more for elective surgery. In the Netherlands, just 4% wait that long, and in Germany, 0% wait that long

We all pay for Canada’s underperforming health care system. Shouldn’t we demand better?

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Infographic: health care across Canada

This graphic represents pressing health care issues affecting each province.

No matter where you live, the need to #FixHealthCareNow is clear.

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