Health Care in Haldimand-Norfolk

Simcoe, October 1, 1997 -- The majority (65%) of municipal residents presently rate the health care system in the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk as "good/excellent", however almost one-half (48%) think that the quality of health care services in the region will worsen five years from now, compared to sixteen percent (16%) who feel it will improve and to three in ten (30%) reporting that it will remain the same, according to a Simcoe Reformer/Angus Reid Group poll.

In addition, the majority (72%) of residents report that they are at least somewhat informed about changes to the health care system in the region and staffing issues appear as the most common (17% of mentions) suggested improvements for the health care system in Haldimand-Norfolk, with particular emphasis on increasing the number of doctors (10%).

These are the highlights of a Simcoe Reformer/Angus Reid Group poll among a stratified random sample of 400 adults aged 18 years and older residing in the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk was conducted between September 4th and September 7th, 1997. A sample size of 400 is said to have an overall margin of error of 1774.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Rating the Current Quality of Health Care in Haldimand-Norfolk

The majority (65%) of municipal residents rate the current health care system in Haldimand-Norfolk as "good/excellent", including two in ten (20%) rating it as "excellent" and just under one-half (45%) rating the health care system in the region as "good".

• In addition, two in ten (20%) residents feel that the present health care system in the region is "fair", particularly among the least affluent with annual household incomes of less than $30,000 (25%), and just over one in ten (11%) rate the system as "poor". Three percent (3%) are undecided.
• Older residents aged 55 and older (69%) and mid-annual household income earners (69% among those with between $30,000 and $60,000) are most likely to rate the current quality of health care services as "good/excellent".

Pessimism Over the Future of Health Care

Although the majority of residents rate the current health care system as "good/excellent", almost one-half (48%) think that the quality of health care services in the municipality will worsen over the next five years. In comparison, just over one in six (16%) municipal residents think that the quality of health care services will improve five years from now, and three in ten (30%) believe that the quality of health care services will remain the same.

• Younger residents aged 18 to 34 years (53%) and the most affluent (54% among those with annual household incomes of $60,000 or more) are most likely to report that the quality of health care services will be worse five years from now.

Awareness of Health Care Changes in Haldimand-Norfolk

The majority (72%) of municipal residents report that they are informed about changes to the health care system in the region.

• Over seven in ten (72%) respondents are either "very" (18%) or "somewhat" (54%) well-informed about changes to the health care system in Haldimand-Norfolk. Just over one-quarter (27%) feel that they are either not very well-informed (22%) or not informed at all (5%) about these changes. One percent are undecided.
• The most affluent with annual household incomes of $60,000 or more are disproportionately more likely to feel that they are well-informed (78%) about health care changes in the region.
• Conversely, the least affluent with annual household incomes of less than $30,000 are most likely to indicate that they are not well-informed/not informed at all (34%) about these changes.

Suggested Improvements to Health Care Services: Staffing

All respondents were asked on an unaided basis, "if you could make any improvements to health care services in the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk, which one improvement would you recommend?". Staffing levels resulted as the most common suggested improvement volunteered by 17% of respondents, followed by "keep hospitals open", noted by over one in ten (12%) respondents.

• Total suggestions to improve staffing levels included more doctors (10%), more specialists (3%), more nurses (2%) and more staff (2%).
• Other improvements mentioned on an unaided basis include: better emergency care (5%); better care of the elderly (4%); more funding (4%), maintain the status quo (4%); stop the cutbacks (3%); improve the quality of care (3%); more walk-in clinics (2%); faster service (2%); more involvement by corporations/private industry (2%); get rid of current government (2%); cuts should be made in administration, not services (1%); don't discharge patients early (1%); put it back the way it was (1%); streamline the system/cut out the waste (1%); introduce user fees (1%); increase accessibility (1%); improve home care (1%); don't let people abuse the system (1%); increase awareness/more information (1%); and, improve facilities (1%). As well, just over two in ten (22%) residents were unsure of what improvements to suggest for the health care system in the region.

This poll was conducted by telephone between September 4th and 7th, 1997, among a stratified random sample of 400 adults aged 18 years and older currently residing in the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk.

The data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's age/sex composition reflects that of the actual municipal population according to the 1996 Census data.

With this sample of 400, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results are within ±4.9 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult population within the Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk been polled. The margin of error will be larger within the various sub-groupings of the survey population.

For more details, please contact:

W. John Wright Senior Vice President Angus Reid Group, Inc. (416) 324-2900

Mike Fredericks, Publisher or Cam McKnight, General Manager Simcoe Reformer (519) 426-5710