Observations on primary health care in Ontario, Canada.

The Canadian health care system has developed very differently from that of its neighbour, the United States of America. It has a publicly financed and administered universal insurance plan which provides good access to high quality medicine, free at the point of delivery. Increasing costs, however, mean that painful political decisions on health will have to be made. Experiments with alternative means of financing primary health care provision and the Canadian approach to postgraduate education may offer useful ideas for general practice in the United Kingdom.