Wait times for surgery, which have been in question since the start of the pandemic, have significantly improved, a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has found.
Most urgent operations are now done within recommended time frames, the paper says, looking at wait time trends in the first 18 months of the pandemic (between April 2020 and September 2021).
For example, 85% of hip fracture repairs were completed within the recommended 48-hour timeframe and 97% of radiotherapy treatments were completed within the four-week timeframe.
Wait times are improving and returning to normal pre-pandemicsummed up a spokeswoman forDITOAlya Niang.
However, the statistics do not allow us to paint a complete picture of the situation.nuance for her part Tracy Johnson, director, health system analytics, atDITO.
The extent of the impact of medical delays on the overall health or quality of life of patients in Canada has not been assessed, he points out.
MRI and cataracts
The report indicates that in some cases, interventions will be available more quickly than before the pandemic.
This is the case for magnetic resonance imaging tests, where you now have to wait five or six days less than before the pandemic.
This improvement has been attributed to the reorganization of resources, including an increase in staff that has allowed for more use ofMRI in some health care settings.
Two-thirds of cataract surgeries were performed within the recommended time frame, compared with 70% before the pandemic.
These improvements cannot only be attributed to the fact that the pandemic is already losing ground and the resources mobilized to deal with it are being replicated elsewhere, Ms. Niang.
We realize that some operations don’t have to stop, he says. After the first six months [de pandémie]after realizing that some procedures did not need to be held, they were able to resume.
The data ofDITO show that the number of surgeries has fallen by 600,000 across Canada since the pandemic began, when comparing the months of December 2019 and 2021. Joint replacement and cataract surgery are about a quarter of this decline.
The number of cancer -related surgeries increased between April and September 2021, approaching pre -pandemic levels.
Lessons learned at the beginning of the pandemic have helped redistribute resources within health systems to reduce, if possible, delays in operations and diagnostic testing.explained theDITO by press release.
Inequality between provinces
Patients waiting for the new combined fare are somewhat worse off. Nationwide, approximately 60% of those in need of a new knee received it within the recommended time frame, compared to 70% before the pandemic.
In the case of hip replacement, 65% of arthroplasties occurred within the recommended timeframe, compared with 75% before the pandemic.
In Quebec, 52% of patients received their new hip, and 44% of their new knee, within reference time. These percentages are, respectively, 75% and 71% in Ontario, and 54% and 45% in New Brunswick.
Also in Quebec, 68% of cataract surgeries (60% in Ontario, 71% in New Brunswick) and 99% of radiotherapy procedures (98% in Ontario, 92% in New Brunswick) were performed at the time of referral.
Source: Radio-Canada
