Median wait time to receive treatment in Canada falls
Posted on October 8th, 2008 by bile Tags: British Columbia, Canada, Fraser Institute, Google, healthcare, Manitoba, MRI, neurosurgery, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, ultrasound, United Kingdom, United StatesA new report by the Fraser Institute shows Canada-wide wait times for medical treatments have dropped markedly for the first time since the conservative think-tank started tracking health-care delays 15 years ago.
For the country as a whole, the median wait between being referred to a specialist and receiving treatment fell to 17.3 weeks in 2008 from 18.3 weeks last year - the longest delay recorded since the think-tank began studying the issue.
Ontario had the shortest total wait at 13.3 weeks, followed by B.C. (17) and Manitoba (17.2). The longest delays were found in Saskatchewan (28.8 weeks), Nova Scotia (27.6) and Newfoundland and Labrador (24.4).
Among the various medical specialties, the shortest total waits were for medical oncology (4.6 weeks), radiation oncology (5.8) and elective heart surgery (7.3), while the longest were for orthopedic surgery (36.7 weeks), plastic surgery (35.5) and neurosurgery (31.7). The median wait for a CT scan rose slightly from 4.8 to 4.9 weeks, while the same wait for an MRI fell to 9.7 weeks from 10.1. The median wait for an ultrasound rose from 3.9 to 4.4 weeks.
I’d provide comparison numbers with the USA but I couldn’t find any in a quick Google search. Looking up “usa mri wait times” results in just articles from the UK and Canada about long waits in their system.
