stodge

For those that are thinking of moving to Canada, my response is don't. The Health Care system here is an absolute shambles. My wife phoned her doctor to make an appointment and was told that she couldn't get one for at least two months. Two months?!

Also a friend of ours is waiting for an operation that has been cancelled several times. Once because the doctor decided he wanted to go off on holidays. Also she was sent to two specialists; one of whom told her that he didn't perform operations and didn't know why she was referred to him. The second basically wanted to perform a sick form of sexual harassment; "you want to do what to me"? She is now off work on short-term disability and in great pain.

Why bother with public health care? The two tier system is alive and well in Canada. It sucks.

Rant over; feel free to ignore as you see fit.

travelling_kiwi

i know what you mean. too bad if you have to wait 2 months for a dermatologist to check out that sinister black lesion on your forearm.
i believe the infrastructure itself & level of treatment is generally excellent though.
but it is a shame you pay so much tax which should fully pay for an effective health care system, then pay benefits (basically insurance) for what you've already paid for.
i think there should be no benefits. they should encourage the "2 tier" or a parallel system where taxpayers can either buy insurance for private healthcare or buy private med care as needed. thus also reducing the apparent waiting lists & pressure on tax-funded health services.
i think most people are afraid of endorsing 2 tier as they've been conditioned to believe it's bad so it may never officially happen in canada. (besides dental,optical,physio etc)
so get campaiging for private clinics now!

travelling_kiwi

you should add that "walk-in clinics" aka GP offices are open extended hours everywhere for those without a GP etc. and you get seen immediately pending number of others in waiting room.
there's a good chance you'll still get continuity with same Dr at these clinics.

Purley

What we need to do is chuck out the Liberals - they have an absolute monopoly and can do anything they want. We should have a system where the feds get kicked out every 4 years like the US presidents do.

We have no say in what our money is spent or misspent on!

stodge

Good point, but what is the point of spending hours tracking down a doctor with whom you can register? Besides, some walk in clinics won't perform certain check-ups or functions. Though a three hour wait is certainly better than a 2 month one!