Today, the Health Council of Canada released the report Where you live matters: Canadian views on health care quality.
The report, based on the 2013 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey results, focuses on differences across the ten provinces, comparisons among the 11 OECD countries that participated in the survey, and changes in Canada’s performance over the past decade. It is the eighth and final bulletin in the Canadian Health Matters series.
Based on the survey results, Canadians’ views about the health care system have grown more positive in the last decade, and more than half (61 per cent) rate their health status as very good or excellent, putting Canada among the top three of the 11 countries surveyed. However, there remain large and concerning variations in patients’ experiences among provinces in terms of wait times and coordination of care, quality of care, patient safety, preventive care, and financial barriers. These results indicate that where a person lives in Canada does matter. Provinces will need to dig deeper into the survey data and other sources to understand the reasons for their differences and consider what can be done to reduce inequities in health and health care for all Canadians.
The Health Council is pleased to have been a key contributor to the design and funding of this survey, along with the Alberta Health Quality Council, Health Quality Ontario, and Commissaire à la santé et au bien-être (Quebec’s Health and Welfare Commissioner).
The report is available in both official languages to governments, stakeholder organizations and members of the general public via the Health Council’s website, www.healthcouncilcanada.ca.
We also invite you to read a blog on the report at www.healthcouncilcanada.blogspot.com.
Leave a Reply