A new study released Wednesday shows that Canada's health care system lags far behind the standard in western Europe.

The study, called Euro-Canada Health Care Index and released by Canada-based think-tank Frontier Center for Public Policy, looked at health care in Canada from the consumers' perspective at the provincial level and compared it with that of 29 European countries.

Austria was declared the winner, scoring 806 points out of a possible 1,000 points. The study said Austria has "a generous health care system that provides good access for patients and very good medical results." Austria was followed closely by the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Germany.

Canada placed 23rd out of 30 countries with a score of 550. A summary of the report said Canadians rely upon a "sclerotic, inefficient and remarkably stingy" system when it comes to providing excellent and timely care to patients.

Canada came the last but second, tied with Poland, when it comes to patients rights and information. It shared last place with Ireland and Sweden for wait times, which the report called the "weak spot in Canadian health care." The study said Canadians can be subjected to up to four lengthy waits, which is not unusual to cumulatively exceed a year.

But on the bright side, the study does say that with respect to clinical outcomes, Canada compares well with the best performing health care systems.

The study examined several health-care quality indicators such as wait times, patient rights and information, primary care and access to own medical records.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2008)