A new national report shows Prince Edward Island has some of the lowest wait times in Canada for several key health services.
PEI has the second best wait times in the country for knee replacements and the lowest wait times in the Maritimes for both cataract and hip surgery.
“Good access to hip, knee and cataract surgery is very important to Islanders, particularly seniors, and it is encouraging to see our health system performing so well in these priority areas,” said Health and Wellness Minister Robert Henderson. “Contributing to this has been our full complement of surgeons and the significant investments government has made to physically expand the QEH surgery department, including the new eye surgical suite, to reduced wait times for orthopedic and cataract services.”
All provinces are performing well in meeting the benchmark wait time for radiation therapy treatment. “98 percent of Island cancer patients whose treatment plan calls for radiation therapy are receiving the treatment within the four-week benchmark, up from 90 percent last year,” said the minister. “The addition of a radiation oncology fellow last year has helped to improve access to specialist consults and treatment.”
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) report, Wait Times for Priority Procedures in Canada, 2016, provides a snapshot of wait times in Canada for priority procedures reported.
The percentage of Prince Edward Island patients receiving treatment within national benchmarks increased in 2015 in several areas.
• 98% of cancer patients requiring radiation therapy received treatment within the four week national benchmark, up from 90%.
• 91% of patients waiting for knee replacements received treatment within the 26 week benchmark, up from 78% the previous year. This was the second best in the country after Saskatchewan.
• 87% of patients received cataract surgery within the 16 week benchmark, up from 51% the previous year, the best in the Maritime provinces and fourth best in country.
• 87% of patients received hip replacements within the 26 week benchmark, similar to the previous year. This was the best in the Maritime provinces and the third best in the country along with Ontario.
• 77% of hip fracture repairs were performed within the 48 hour benchmark, up from 63% the previous year.
Hip fracture repair has been identified as a priority for Health PEI’s Wait Times Steering Committee to review. A work plan will be developed with a focus on further reducing a patient’s wait time from arrival at any emergency department to hip fracture repair, ensuring even more Islanders receive treatment within the benchmark going forward.
“Our department has made it a priority and worked hard to decrease surgical wait times for our patients,” said Dr. Alexander Gillis, Head of the QEH Department of Surgery. “I am pleased with the progress made so far as we continue to strive to find further efficiencies that will maximize patient care, quality and timeliness.”
In 2004, Canada’s first ministers agreed to reduce wait times in five priority areas: cancer treatment, cardiac care, diagnostic imaging, joint replacement and sight restoration. In 2005, evidence-based benchmarks (targets) for medically acceptable waits were established for some priority procedures.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is mandated to collect wait times data from jurisdictions and to monitor provincial progress in meeting benchmarks. This report, and an interactive wait time’s graphics display on the CIHI website, helps CIHI to meet this mandate.
For more information on the CIHI wait times data trends, visit http://waittimes.cihi.ca/.