goldstein: pandemic leads to record medical wait times for canadians

the covid-19 pandemic increased wait times for canadians seeking medical treatment this year to the longest they have ever been, according to a new study by the fraser institute.

a survey of 1,100 doctors across the country found the median wait time for medically-necessary elective treatment in canada in 2021 was 25.6 weeks.

this means the waiting period from the time of a referral by a general practitioner to the start of treatment by a specialist.

that’s up from 22.6 weeks from the first year of the pandemic in 2020, the previous record, and 175% higher than the 9.3-week median wait time recorded in 1993, the first year the fraser institute began tracking wait times across the country.

“the results of this year’s survey suggest that covid-19 and related hospital closures have exacerbated, but are not the cause of canada’s historic wait time challenges,” said bacchus barua, co-author of the study, waiting your turn: wait times for health care in canada, 2021.

“results from the same survey in 2019 revealed that patients waited an estimated 20.9 weeks for medically necessary, elective care — long before the pandemic started.”

according to a study by the fraser institute released last year, canada has the longest medical wait times of 10 industrialized countries with universal health-care systems who are members of the organization for economic co-operation and development, and who track comparable data.

“excessively long wait times remain a defining characteristic of canada’s health-care system,” said study co-author mackenzie moir. “they are not simply minor inconveniences, they can result in increased suffering for patients, lost productivity at work, a decreased quality of life, and in the worst cases, disability or death.”

the fraser institute survey estimated that the total number of medical procedures for which canadians were waiting in 2021 was 1,425,517. 

assuming each patient was waiting for one procedure, this means that 3.7% of canadians were waiting for medical treatments in 2021.

doctors questioned in the survey reported that their patients were encountering a median wait time of six weeks longer for treatment after seeing a specialist than what they consider to be clinically reasonable.

in terms of definitions, “elective” surgery or treatment does not automatically mean the procedure is unnecessary, minor, or optional. 

elective surgery simply means it is a procedure which is done at a scheduled time, as opposed to emergency surgery which is done immediately.

the survey found that median medical wait times across 12 medical specialities in 2021 were longest in nova scotia at 53.2 weeks and shortest in ontario at 18.5 weeks.

in the other eight provinces wait times, in descending order, were 41.6 weeks in prince edward island; 41.5 weeks in new brunswick; 32.1 weeks in alberta; 31.5 weeks in manitoba; 30.9 weeks in saskatchewan; 29.1 weeks in quebec; 26.2 weeks in british columbia; and 21.1 weeks in newfoundland and labrador.

nationally, among the 12 medical specialties surveyed, median wait times were longest between a referral by a general practitioner and neurosurgical (brain) procedures at 49.2 weeks and shortest for radiation treatments at 3.7 weeks. 

canadians also experienced median wait times for diagnostic procedures of 10.2 weeks for mris, 5.2 week for ct scans, and 3.6 weeks for ultrasounds.

in many cases, treatment of a patient cannot begin until these diagnostic procedures are completed, lengthening the overall time it takes from a referral by a general practitioner to treatment by a specialist.