Longer waits to see medical specialists offset by quicker treatment, reports say

It’s no secret: Canada’s health-care wait times leave much to be desired. But two reports released Tuesday have confirmed it.

An annual survey of Canadian physicians shows a median wait time of 18.3 weeks, which is up slightly from 18.2 weeks in 2014, according to a new report by the Fraser Institute.

The study took into account the total wait time across 12 medical specialities,

from a referral by a family doctor to a consultation with a specialist and receiving treatment.

Not about speNdiNg “These protracted wait times are not the result of insufficient spending but because of poor policy universal health-care systems around the developed world,” said Bacchus Barua, a senior economist with Fraser’s Centre for Health Policy Studies.

“It’s possible to reduce wait times without higher spending or abandoning universality. The key is to better understand the health experiences of other more successful (jurisdictions). These wait times for medically necessary treatment in Canada are not simply minor inconveniences. They can result in pain and suffering for patients, decreased productivity at work and decreased quality of life.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Saskatchewan has the shortest wait time at 13.6 weeks followed by Ontario at 14.2 weeks. n British Columbia has the longest wait time at 22.4 weeks. n The longest referral to treatment time is for orthopedic surgeries at 35.7 weeks followed by neurosurgery at 27.6 weeks. n Wait times for radiation oncology is much shorter at 4.1 weeks.

Agencies/Canadajournal