|
Wait time grades (national)
| Priority
area |
Grade 2006 |
Grade 2007 |
|
Diagnostic Imaging*
CT
MRI
|
TBD
|
TBD
|
Joint
replacement
Hip
Knee |
C (both)
|
B
C
|
| Radiation
oncology |
A
|
A
|
| CABG |
A
|
A
|
| Cataract
surgery |
C
|
B
|
* Wait times measurements in
development
Source: Wait Time Alliance
report "Time's Up: Achieving meaningful reductions
in wait times," April 2007
|
Five new specialities will be scrutinized
by the Wait Time Alliance (WTA), the group announced
on April 19. Emergency medicine, psychiatry, reconstructive
surgery, anesthesia and gastroenterology will all be
the objects of new wait time benchmarks in the near
future.
The announcement was part of the
release of the WTA's latest progress report, "Time's
Up!," which finds that most of the five specialities
currently measured showed tolerable improvements (see
table right). "While the job is not completely done
in the original five areas, the WTA believes it's time
to look ahead," said WTA co-chair Dr Lorne Bellan, a
Winnipeg ophthalmologist. "That's why we're expanding
to the next phase of the wait time benchmark development
process."
This move addresses what the report
calls the balloon effect: "The crowding out or reduction
of resources for other health care services as a result
of focusing too narrowly on the five priority areas.
There is concern in the medical community over the emergence
of 'have' and 'have not' disciplines."
Last month many physicians heaped
scorn on the unambitious benchmarks set under Prime
Minister Stephen Harper's $600 million wait time allocation
to help meet a 10-year deadline set by the WTA.
One of the areas that also got
some funding in that budget — mental health —
is in dire need for wait times improvement. "The tragedy
is that too often such illnesses do not get treatment
in time to prevent... horrible consequences," said Dr
Manon Charbonneau, president of the Canadian Psychiatric
Association.
The Canadian Medical Association
(CMA) applauded the expansion of the WTA, but warned
we mustn't forget the human resource crisis. "Benchmarks
and care guarantees are critical," said CMA president
Dr Colin McMillan, "but we'll never be able to meet
them without more doctors, nurses and other health care
professionals working in the system." The CMA and the
College of Family Physicians of Canada are working on
a related initiative to improve FP access, hence speeding
up referrals to specialized care.
|
