Canadian patients in 2024 waited longer than ever for medical treatment, finds a new study released by the Fraser Institute.
Canadians faced longest ever health-care wait times in 2024, study finds | National Post | Stewart Lewis:
December 12, 2024 - "Canadians waited longer than ever for medical treatment in 2024, says the Fraser Institute. This year’s edition of its annual survey of physicians from across Canada reports a median wait time of 30 weeks from referral by a family doctor to consultation with a specialist, and then from the consultation to actual treatment. The 30-week wait is the longest ever recorded by the Institute — longer than the 27.7 weeks in 2023, 20.9 weeks in pre-pandemic 2019, and 222 per cent longer than the 9.3 weeks in 1993, when it began tracking wait times.
"'While most Canadians understand that wait times are a major problem, we’ve now reached an unprecedented and unfortunate milestone for delayed access to care,' said Bacchus Barua, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of 'Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2024.' The independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank released the new survey Thursday.
“'Long wait times can result in increased suffering for patients, lost productivity at work, a decreased quality of life, and in the worst cases, disability or death,' said Mackenzie Moir, senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute and study co-author.
"Ontarians seem to be doing best in the country with the shortest median wait time (23.6 weeks, up from 21.6 weeks in 2023). Prince Edward Islanders are not quite so fortunate, recording the longest median wait(77.4 weeks). The Institute notes, however, that data for P.E.I. should be interpreted with caution due to fewer survey responses compared to other provinces.
"The wait time to see a specialist increased from 14.6 weeks in 2023 to 15.0 weeks in 2024. This wait time is 305 per cent longer than it was in 1993 — at 3.7 weeks.... For the second stage, the wait time for treatment increased from 13.1 weeks in 2023 to 15.0 weeks this year. This wait time is 167 per cent longer than in 1993 when it was 5.6 weeks, and 6.3 weeks longer than what physicians consider to be clinically 'reasonable' (8.6 weeks)....
"Among the various specialties, national median wait times were longest for orthopedic surgery (57.5 weeks) and neurosurgery (46.2 weeks). Meanwhile, the shortest are for radiation (4.5 weeks) and medical oncology treatments (4.7 weeks). For diagnostic tests, wait times were longest for CT scans (8.1 weeks), MRIs (16.2 weeks) and ultrasounds (5.2 weeks).
"It is estimated, across the 10 provinces, that the total number of procedures people waited for in 2024 is 1,543,994. Assuming each person waits for only one procedure, 3.7 per cent of Canadians waited for treatment in 2024....
"Data for this study was collected from Jan. 19 to May 31, 2024. A total of 1,973 responses were received across the 12 specialties surveyed, a response rate of 17.0 per cent.
Read report: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/waiting-your-turn-2024.pdf
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