A decade of surgery in Canada, England and Wales, and the United States
E. Vayda, W. R. Mindell and I. M. Rutkow
Between 1966 and 1976, overall surgical rates in Canada remained relatively
unchanged and consistently 60% higher than those in England and Wales.
Overall United States rates were the highest of the three countries and
increased 25% over the ten years. Numbers of surgeons per capita increased
in both Canada and England and Wales but overall surgical rates in the two
operative rates increased. During the decade, Canada had more hospital beds
per capita than the United States while England and Wales had the fewest.
Since 1970, the percentage of gross national product spent on health care
has been greatest in the United States, intermediate in Canada, and lowest
in England and Wales. These expenditures may better reflect national
priorities and value and, thus be more important than per capita numbers of
hospital beds or surgeons in explaining the cross-national difference in
rates of surgery.
