Survey finds a lack of doctors is a big issue on the West Coast

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – You probably know someone who has a story about delays seeing a specialist or getting surgery — maybe you’ve experienced it yourself — so maybe it is no surprise that crowded hospitals and doctor shortages are big concerns for many British Columbians.

A national survey outlining our anxieties with the health care system finds emergency room wait times and surgery wait times are considered the most serious problems by a majority of Canadians, but here on the West Coast we are more likely to be worried about hospital overcrowding (51 per cent serious problem) and access to a family doctor (47 per cent serious problem).

“We actually find that BC is one of the regions where concern is actually higher on many issues,” says Abacus CEO David Coletto.

“BC, along with Quebec and Atlantic Canada, is a hotspot where our survey found there are more concerns about these issues, particularly hospital overcrowding and access to family doctors.”

Nationally, ER wait times is considered a serious concern by 56 per cent of Canadians, followed by surgery wait times at 54 percent.

The survey also found that older Canadians are more likely to think the health care issues identified were serious problems in Canada.

In particular, 66 per cent of those aged 60 and over believed that surgery wait times were a major problem, 25 points higher than those aged 18 to 29.

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