Province Gets an A But Knee Replacement Waits Still Long in P.G.

Friday, June 18, 2010 04:19 AM

Prince George, B.C.- While the Province is celebrating getting an “A” in the “Wait Time Alliance Report” which measures the wait times for 5 types of medical procedures, Prince George patients are still facing long waits for knee replacement surgery at the University Hospital of B.C.

The five procedures measured for the report are:

Cataract surgery, cancer treatment, hip and knee replacement and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).

Below, we have charted the current median wait times for Northern Health patients for those same procedures. Median wait times mean half of the patients would have received surgery sooner, and half would have waited longer:

*Procedure*	*Benchmark Wait*	*# of Specialists in P.G.*	*Shortest Median Wait*	*Longest Median Wait*
Cataract Surgery	16 weeks	4	1.6 weeks	18 weeks
Cancer treatment	28 days	Median wait time for radio therapy is eleven days throughout the Province, and Chemotherapy is within 2 weeks
Hip replacement	26 weeks	6	8.6 weeks	85 weeks
Knee replacement	26 weeks	7	25.9 weeks	100.2weeks
Coronary Artery bypass graft	26 weeks	Royal Columbian- 4 surgeons, 1.8 wks 4.1 weeks Royal Jubilee – 5 surgeons, 0.7 wks 4.0 weeks St. Paul’s - 9 surgeons 1.3 wks 10.3 weeks Vancouver Hospital 7 surgeons 1.7 wks 15.9 weeks

The 2009 WTA Report Card measured the total wait facing patients across a range of services and procedures that go beyond the narrow focus of the 5 priority areas and found long waits in both the referral-to-specialist-consultation stage and specialist-consultation-to-treatment stage.

Furthermore, 5 million Canadians do not have a regular family physician/GP and may have to wait longer at the beginning of their health care journey.

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Posted on Friday, June 18, 2010 04:19 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: ammonra on June 18 2010 6:49 AM

I have waited over five years for a surgical date at the Royal Columbian. Finally, I will get the surgery July 12. Five years is far too long to wait for any surgery, but there are literally hundreds waiting for that surgery. It is done by only two surgeons at one hospital at the rate of 52 per year, down from about 120 at the end of last year from government cutbacks.

Stats on carefully selected criteria do not reflect the appalling state of health care in BC.

Posted by: hammmy on June 18 2010 7:30 AM

Come July will have been waiting 2 years for surgery on knee.

Posted by: Retired on June 18 2010 10:32 AM

A good alterative for elective surgery is to get off your butt and get some exercise.. Also a great aid in the prevention of coronary health. If your to lazy to get some exercise try some of the medications available for pain relief.

Joint replacements should not be done under MSP. It�s a gold mine for our surgeons.
Cheers

Posted by: supertech on June 18 2010 9:42 PM

What a rude statement. You think everyone is ageing in perfect condition? Everyone with a knee problem or a heart problem is not a lazy slob. I blew a knee backpacking on a hunting trip. I can hardly wait until you blow a knee; then you will see it is not from sitting on your butt.

Posted by: hammmy on June 20 2010 12:42 PM

I take glucosamine tablets and 81 mg's of asperin and thats enough drugs for me. Just simple things as climbing a flight of stairs can sometimes be excruciating. I sometimes consider stepping in front of a swinging baseball bat just to get this over and done with!