VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- British Columbia’s median wait time for medically necessary treatment was 23.2 weeks—more than three weeks longer than the national average, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
Across Canada, the median wait time in 2018 was 19.8 weeks.
“Patients in British Columbia are waiting more than five months for necessary treatment—a fact that should spur action from policymakers,” said Bacchus Barua, associate director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and author of Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2018.
The study examines the total wait time patients face across 12 medical specialties—from referral by a general practitioner (i.e. family doctor) to consultation with a specialist, to when the patient ultimately receives treatment.
It finds that B.C.’s average wait time of 23.2 weeks is down from a record-high wait time of 26.6 weeks last year. But it’s the fifth consecutive year that B.C.’s median wait time has been longer than 20 weeks.
When the Fraser Institute first began tracking national wait times in 1993, B.C.’s wait time was just 10.4 weeks.
Across the province, wait times this year were longest for orthopaedic surgery (57.2 weeks) and shortest for medical oncology (6.0 weeks).
“Long waits for medical treatment aren’t a trivial matter—they can increase suffering for patients, decrease quality of life, and in the worst cases, lead to disability or death,” Barua said.
“It’s time for policymakers in Victoria and across Canada to reform the outdated policies that contribute to long wait times.”
| Median wait times by province (in weeks) | |||||
| PROVINCE | 2017 | 2018 | PROVINCE | 2017 | 2018 |
| British Columbia | 26.6 | 23.2 | Quebec | 20.6 | 15.8 |
| Alberta | 26.5 | 26.1 | New Brunswick | 41.7 | 45.1 |
| Saskatchewan | 19.8 | 15.4 | Nova Scotia | 37.7 | 34.4 |
| Manitoba | 24.9 | 26.1 | Prince Edward Island | 32.4 | 39.8 |
| Ontario | 15.4 | 15.7 | Newfoundland and Labrador | 21.5 | 22.0 |
| NOTE: The number of survey responses in Atlantic Canada were lower than other provinces, which may result in reported median wait times being higher or lower than those actually experienced. | |||||
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bacchus Barua, Associate Director, Health Policy Studies
Fraser Institute
To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Bryn Weese, Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute
(604) 688-0221 Ext. 589
bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org
Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter and Facebook
The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org