Our system has failed my family and I badly. I personally pay much more into the system than most Americans would ever dream of. I live in southern Ontario which is the most densely populated area of Canada.
Our family Doctor retired 2 years ago and we have been on a waiting list since then to have a new one assigned(referred?) to us -no end in sight for that. That means basically the only way for us to access the system is through the emergency room, which involves a 7 to 9 hour wait to see a physician in our locale. Sometimes its faster but I would say that is a good honest average based on my experience.
This is the tip of the iceberg. In the last 2 years we have had:
a newborn daughter that was severerely damaged by the delivery doctor (or his intern-we don't know which)... no apology, no blame laid- just "don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out"
My wife having to endure several extremely painful ruptured cysts in her ovary's without a referral to a Gyno to see what the problem is.
A 9 hour wait in emergency for me to get a prescription for a guardia infection I picked up on a grizzly hunt in BC.
My 2 year supply of blood pressure meds that our old Family doctor gave me prescriptions for is about to be finished- The pharmacist tells me I have to get a prescription before I can get more. I'm sure this will lead to another 7 to 9 hour wait for me- to get a prescription- I'm semi worried that whatever emergency room doc I end up with will probably only give me a 30 day scrip- that will necessitate me repeating the process all over again next month...
These are what come to the top of my head- I'm sure there's more if I sit and think about it for a while....
Our system is broken, badly.
