Most British Columbians believe the health care system needs changes

According to a recent poll by BC-Based Research Co., most British Columbians believe that changes are needed to improve the health care system. 

The first question on the poll asked how people view Canada’s current health care system. 

To this, 55% of BC respondents answered that there are some good things in Canada’s health care system, but many changes are required. 

Conversely, 22% indicated that there is so much wrong with the system, it needs to be completely rebuilt, and on the other side, 19% answered that the system works well and only minor changes are needed. 

Respondents in other regions of the country answered similarly to BC. Ontario showed the most confidence in the system with 24% saying only minor changes were needed while the Atlantic provinces indicated the least confidence with 30% saying it needs to be completely rebuilt. 

When asked what the biggest problem facing the Canadian health care system is, three issues took precedence among British Columbians. 

According to the poll, 36% of BC respondents believe that doctor and nurse shortages are the underlying issue, while 30% said long wait times and 11% answered inadequate resources of facilities were the biggest factors. 

Respondents were also asked if they were confident that the system would be able to care for them if they were diagnosed with a medical condition or disease.

To this, the majority of BC pollees at 48% indicated they were “moderately confident,” where 23% said they were either “very confident” or “not too confident.” Only 7% of respondents answered they were “not confident at all.”

Because Canada has public health care that is funded by the government, but the country’s economy is facing challenges and debt, the poll sought to find out if people think a reduction in health care spending would be warranted. 

BC respondents were vehemently against the idea, with 76% disagreeing with health care spending cuts and only 14% in agreement. 

When asked whether Canadians should move to a privatized health care model, respondents were slightly more split on the idea. 

In BC, 49% answered that they do not believe a private system would help the health care system’s capacity, while 32% do think a private system would help and 19% were unsure. 

On Vancouver Island, do you believe the results of this poll accurately reflect the challenges facing the current health care system? Is there anything that uniquely impacts the island in terms of health care capacity? 

Let us know in the comments section below.