(Toronto, Canada) – An Ipsos survey commissioned by the Ontario Medical Association found that 34 per cent of Ontario adults reported longer waits to see a specialist over the past year.

Seven per cent reported shorter waits, while 34 per cent saw no change and 25 per cent had not seen a specialist during that period.

Chronic-condition households describe delays

Among respondents with a chronic condition affecting themselves or someone in their household, 22 per cent reported waiting at least six months after their most recent specialist referral for that condition.

Among respondents asked about that referral, 35 per cent said the wait prompted a walk-in clinic or emergency-department visit. The question covered the respondent or an affected household member; it does not mean 35 per cent of all Ontarians visited emergency care because of a specialist delay.

Doctors seek changes to referrals

In a November 2 release accompanying its Queen’s Park advocacy, the OMA called for further expansion of central intake systems and team-based care involving community specialists. It said physicians should help design and evaluate those systems.

The association argues that administrative work, staffing shortages and rising overhead make independent practice harder to sustain. Those are the OMA’s policy arguments; the poll itself records respondents’ experiences.

How the survey was conducted

Ipsos surveyed 1,156 Ontario adults online from October 13 to 19, using quotas and demographic weighting. It reports an overall credibility interval of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, with wider uncertainty for subgroups.

The results are self-reported survey findings, not a province-wide administrative measurement of specialist waiting lists.

Sources: Ipsos survey findings and methodology; Ontario Medical Association, November 2 release.

Lead image: The Northern Current editorial illustration.