The Fraser Institute has surveyed specialist physicians across twelve specialties and ten provinces in order to document the lengthy queues for visits to specialists and for diagnostic and surgical procedures in the country for over 2 decades.
The study has found the overall, waiting times for medically necessary treatment have increased since last year reaching a median waiting time of 20 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment.
Ontario recorded the shortest wait time at 15.6 weeks, however that province’s median wait rose from 14.2 weeks in 2015.
New Brunswick recorded the longest wait time among Canadian provinces,that is 38.8 weeks.
In terms of specialized treatment, national wait times were longest for neurosurgery -46.9 weeks and shortest for medical oncology-3.7 weeks.
In a statement announcing the survey’s results, the institute estimated that Canadians are currently waiting for nearly one million “medically necessary” procedures.
The Canadian Medical Association stated that long wait times are typically a “symptom of poor health system performance or poor co-ordination between systems that need to be addressed.”