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Medical wait times in Canada longer than ever at 20 weeks in 2016: Fraser Instit
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Some of comments followed Q & A: How long are medical wait times in Canada by province and procegure?
Owen Stride: Incorrect, in the UK and other European nations you have to go to the Dr they send you too. If you want to pay, its usually the same Dr just at a different hospital. So the wait times increase for those who can't pay.
In NB I waited 2 years for a family Dr then 2.5 years for a specilist just to see them that's 4.5 years of waiting to find out what was wrong... 434 weeks of waiting I'd love to only wait what the "surveys " say.
About author Carmen Chai
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
https://twitter.com/Carmen_Chai
Carmen Chai is a national online reporter covering health for GlobalNews.ca.
As a print reporter, Carmen has reported from several cities across Canada. She covered local breaking news and crime for the Toronto Star and The Province newspaper in Vancouver. In Ottawa, Carmen was a national journalist for Postmedia News, where her stories appeared in newspapers from coast to coast. She covered federal politics, Canadian and international breaking news and health while at the wire service.
Carmen joined the digital team in January 2012. In 2013, Carmen’s reporting on pregnancy trends garnered a Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario award for best online story.
In 2014, her feature on vaccination rates in Toronto schools won a Canadian Medical Association award for excellence in local media health reporting.
Carmen holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Ryerson University and has also studied abroad at City University London. She loves travel, has been to more than 25 countries and has lived in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Paris, and London, England.
Q & A: How long are medical wait times in Canada by province and procedure?
Canadians who need medically necessary surgeries waited longer than ever for treatment — with average wait times hitting 20 weeks, a new Fraser Institute reportconcludes.
Before the 20-week record in 2016, wait times were longest in 2011 at 19 weeks, according to the organization. It began recording wait times for medically necessary elective treatments in 1993. At that point, wait times were only about 9.3 weeks to see a specialist, such as an ophthalmologist, gynecologist, and general surgeons.
READ MORE: Medical wait times in Canada longer than ever at 20 weeks in 2016
“Excessively long wait times remain a defining characteristic of Canada’s health-care system, but this year is the longest we’ve ever seen and that should trouble all Canadians,” Bacchus Barua, senior economist at the institute, said.
“Long wait times aren’t simply minor inconveniences, they can result in increased suffering for patients, lost productivity at work, a decreased quality of life, and in the worst cases, disability or death,” Barua said.
READ MORE: Here’s how long Canadians are waiting for surgery across the country
WATCH: Canadians are waiting longer for surgery than they have in more than 20 years, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute.
Right now, Canadians are waiting for nearly one million medically necessary procedures, the institute warned. Doctors polled for the report conceded that they thought their patients were waiting more than three weeks longer for treatment after seeing a specialist than what they consider to be “clinically reasonable.”
Here’s a look at the report’s findings:
Q: How long are wait times for various procedures?
National wait times were the longest for neurosurgery at 46.9 weeks and shortest for access to a medical oncologist and at only 3.7 weeks.
READ MORE: Patients in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick face longest wait for medically necessary surgery
Twelve medical specialties were considered in the report, spanning from orthopedic surgery to plastic surgery. The wait times below factor in how long it took to see a specialist after being referred to by a doctor and, subsequently, how long it took to receive a procedure.
Wait times (in weeks) by procedure in 2016:
Plastic surgery: 25.9
Gynecology: 18.8
Ophthalmology: 28.5
Otolaryngology: 22.7
General surgery: 12.1
Neurosurgery: 46.9
Orthopedic surgery: 38.0
Cardiovascular: 8.4
Urology: 16.2
Internal Medicine: 12.9
Radiation Oncology: 4.1
Medical Oncology: 3.7
The average wait time across the board sat at 20 weeks in 2016.
Question: How long are wait times by province?
Ontario had the shortest wait times at 15.6 weeks, but up from 14.2 weeks in 2015. New Brunswick saw the longest wait times at nearly 39 weeks in Canada.
READ MORE: Why wait times for psychiatrists vary depending on where you live
For the fourth year in a row, B.C. saw an increase in wait times — there, west coast Canadians wait for about 25.2 weeks — the longest the province has ever recorded.
Wait times (in weeks) by province in 2016
British Columbia: 25.2
Alberta: 22.9
Saskatchewan: 16.6
Manitoba: 20.6
Ontario: 15.6
Quebec: 18.9
New Brunswick: 38.8
Nova Scotia: 34.8
P.E.I.: 31.4
Newfoundland and Labrador: 26.0
Question: Why are wait times so long?
The Canadian Medical Association, which represents the country’s doctors, said that long wait times are “usually a symptom of poor health system performance or poor coordination between systems that need to be addressed.”
“Alternate-level-of-care (ALC) is a key example where patients (the majority of whom are seniors) occupy acute care hospital beds while waiting for more appropriate care such as at home, in the community or in residential settings,” a spokesman said in a statement.
“This is why the CMA is calling on governments to prioritize seniors care,” the statement read.
READ MORE: Medical wait times have nearly doubled in the last 20 years
John Sinclair, president of Novari Health, said he’s not surprised by the wait times recorded in the new paper. The Kingston, Ont.-based organization helps with wait list management, e-referrals and patient intake.
He said the trouble occurs when patients are handed off from family doctor to specialist.
“One of the most dangerous times for patients is transition of care, when one provider — hospital, clinic, doctor — passes a case to another provider. Referrals can get lost, information can get misplaced and bad outcomes come from that,” he said.
“Canada has spent billions of dollars to try to bring down wait times for more than 10 years, and the outcome has been mediocre at best compared to other similar Western industrialized countries.”
When patients get referred by their general practitioner, their doctor is in the dark about how long wait times may be on the other end. Patients could wait weeks then follow up with their GP to see if a specialist will be in touch.
Some provinces, Ontario and Manitoba, for example, have worked on transitioning to online tools to make the transition seamless and transparent for doctors, specialists and patients. Otherwise, doctors’ offices are relying on fax machines and outdated equipment, Sinclair said.
Question: Why are critics challenging this report’s findings?
The report is based on survey responses from physicians across the country. It zeroed in on 12 medical specialties that patients are referred to by their family doctor.
Only 21 per cent of doctors responded to the survey results.
Sinclair said this is a “small sample,” and not necessarily representative of the entire country. Keep in mind, it could be time-strapped doctors frustrated with the wait times they’re grappling with that responded, too.
The methodology is “questionable,” but it points to a general message: that wait times are too lengthy in Canada and that health officials need to carve out some reprieve.
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott told Global News not to put so much weight into the study because of its methodology.
Question: How do the Fraser Institute’s findings compare to other organizations’ reports on wait times?
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says that more surgeries are being performed in Canada but wait times haven’t budged.
Overall, about eight in 10 Canadians going under the knife waited for their surgeries within established benchmarks. The CIHI data suggests that Canada has the shortest wait times for cataract surgery and the second-shortest wait times for hip and knee replacements.
CIHI reports that one in four ‘older’ Canadians waited at least 2 months to see a specialist.
Question: What are the implications for the Canadian economy and for the everyday patient?
The Fraser Institute points to research that suggests that the estimated cost of waiting per patient in Canada is roughly $1,305 if only hours during the normal working week are considered “lost.”
If Canadians counted all hours of the week, excluding eight hours of sleep per night, they’re losing about $3,951. This accounts for time off work, acting as a family caregiver, pain relief and other expenses tied to pain management.
“This is expensive for our economy and has personal consequences for individuals. We all end up as patients, not one of us can avoid the health care system,” Sinclair said.
Read the full Fraser Institute report here.
26 Comments
Medical wait times in Canada longer than ever at 20 weeks in 2016: Fraser Institute
Canadians who need medically necessary surgeries waited longer than ever for treatment – with average wait times hitting 20 weeks, a new Fraser Institute report concludes.
Before the 20-week record in 2016, wait times were longest in 2011 at 19 weeks, according to the organization. It began recording wait times for medically necessary elective treatments in 1993. At that point, wait times were only about 9.3 weeks to see a specialist, such as an ophthalmologist, gynecologist, and general surgeons.
“Excessively long wait times remain a defining characteristic of Canada’s health-care system, but this year is the longest we’ve ever seen and that should trouble all Canadians,” Bacchus Barua, senior economist at the institute, said.
“Long wait times aren’t simply minor inconveniences, they can result in increased suffering for patients, lost productivity at work, a decreased quality of life, and in the worst cases, disability or death,” Barua said.
READ MORE: Here’s how long Canadians are waiting for surgery across the country
National wait times were the longest for neurosurgery at 46.9 weeks and shortest for access to a medical oncologist and at only 3.7 weeks.
Right now, Canadians are waiting for nearly one million medically necessary procedures, the institute warned. Doctors polled for the report conceded that they thought their patients were waiting more than three weeks longer for treatment after seeing a specialist than what they consider to be “clinically reasonable.”
The report is based on survey responses from physicians across the country. It zeroed in on 12 medical specialties that patients are referred to by their family doctor and how long they had to wait to get an appointment with a specialist and then receive treatment.
READ MORE: Medical wait times have nearly doubled in the last 20 years
Wait times by province in 2016
British Columbia: 25.2
Alberta: 22.9
Saskatchewan: 16.6
Manitoba: 20.6
Ontario: 15.6
Quebec: 18.9
New Brunswick: 38.8
Nova Scotia: 34.8
P.E.I.: 31.4
Newfoundland and Labrador: 26.0
Have you been waiting for weeks for a medically necessary procedure? Share your story with us.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2016 Report
— Published on November 23, 2016
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/waiting-your-turn-wait-times-for-health-care-in-canada-2016
Waiting for treatment has become a defining characteristic of Canadian health care. In order to document the lengthy queues for visits to specialists and for diagnostic and surgical procedures in the country, the Fraser Institute has—for over two decades—surveyed specialist physicians across 12 specialties and 10 provinces.
This edition of Waiting Your Turn indicates that, overall, waiting times for medically necessary treatment have in-creased since last year. Specialist physicians surveyed report a median waiting time of 20.0 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment—longer than the wait of 18.3 weeks reported in 2015. This year’s wait time—the longest ever recorded in this survey’s history—is 115% longer than in 1993, when it was just 9.3 weeks.
There is a great deal of variation in the total waiting time faced by patients across the provinces. Ontario reports the shortest total wait (15.6 weeks), while New Brunswick reports the longest (38.8 weeks). There is also a great deal of variation among specialties. Patients wait longest between a GP referral and Neurosurgery (46.9 weeks), while those waiting for Medical oncology begin treatment in 3.7 weeks.
The total wait time that patients face can be examined in two consecutive segments.
From referral by a general practitioner to consultation with a specialist. The waiting time in this segment increased from 8.5 weeks in 2015 to 9.4 weeks this year. This wait time is 155% longer than in 1993, when it was 3.7 weeks. The shortest waits for specialist consultations are in Ontario (7.2 weeks) while the longest occur in New Brunswick (21.5 weeks).
From the consultation with a specialist to the point at which the patient receives treatment. The waiting time in this segment increased from 9.8 weeks in 2015 to 10.6 weeks this year. This wait time is 88% longer than in 1993 when it was 5.6 weeks, and more than three weeks longer than what physicians consider to be clinically “reasonable”. The shortest specialist-to-treatment waits are found in Saskatchewan (7.9 weeks), while the longest are in Nova Scotia (17.7 weeks).
It is estimated that, across the 10 provinces, the total number of procedures for which people are waiting in 2016 is 973,505. This means that, assuming that each person waits for only one procedure, 2.7% of Canadians are waiting for treatment in 2016. The proportion of the population waiting for treatment varies from a low of 1.6% in Quebec to a high of 5.8% in Nova Scotia. It is important to note that physicians report that only about 10.8% of their patients are on a waiting list because they requested a delay or postponement.
Patients also experience significant waiting times for various diagnostic technologies across the provinces. This year, Canadians could expect to wait 3.7 weeks for a computed tomography (CT) scan, 11.1 weeks for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, and 4.0 weeks for an ultrasound.
Research has repeatedly indicated that wait times for medically necessary treatment are not benign inconveniences. Wait times can, and do, have serious consequences such as increased pain, suffering, and mental anguish. In certain instances, they can also result in poorer medical outcomes—transforming potentially reversible illnesses or injuries into chronic, irreversible conditions, or even permanent disabilities. In many instances, patients may also have to forgo their wages while they wait for treatment, resulting in an economic cost to the individuals themselves and the economy in general.
The results of this year’s survey indicate that despite provincial strategies to reduce wait times and high levels of health expenditure, it is clear that patients in Canada continue to wait too long to receive medically necessary treatment.
