For the most part, Canadians believe the health care system is better than it was 5 years ago, a new Ipsos-Reid survey has found. Ontario comes out on top as the most improved, while the lowest scores come out of British Columbia and the Atlantic region. 

The online survey was conducted from 4–18 January for the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, and results were presented at the CHFI’s annual CEO forum in Montreal.

The survey asked respondents to assess access to care over the past 5 years, with 29% saying it is easier and 25% judging it to be worse. Respondents were also asked to assess individual aspects of care, with access to drugs and diagnostics getting the highest scores, and access to specialists the lowest. 

The survey also explored seven variables related to the patient experience: better information shared, more options for treatment, better level of care, better coordinated, more sensitive to needs, better quality, and speedier.

Combining all these assessments, Ipsos-Reid found Ontario and the Prairies to be the clear winners in the survey while BC came in last.

The survey results also revealed that a majority of respondents (52%) believe the health care system is not efficiently using financial and other resources. One-third of those polled agreed with the proposition that they feel abandoned in the health system and are left to figure out what to do next, and 43% agreed with the statement that their experience has made them not trust any process in the system or its professionals.

The poll results can be viewed at www.ipsos-na.com/download/pr.aspx?id=12452 [8].