Here’s how long Canadians are waiting for surgery across the country

WATCH: A new report has broken down just how long the average wait is for key surgeries. There’s been an overall improvement, but it depends on where you live. Eric Sorensen reports.

TORONTO – While there were more surgeries performed in Canada between 2010 and 2014, wait times haven’t budged, according to a new report.

Overall, about eight in 10 Canadians going under the knife waited for their surgeries within established benchmarks. The latest data – out of the Canadian Institutes for Health Information – suggests that Canada has the shortest wait times for cataract surgery and the second-shortest wait times for hip and knee replacements.

READ MORE: Medical wait times have nearly doubled in the last 20 years

“Timely access to care is an important issue to Canadians, so reducing wait times while ensuring quality of care has been one of governments’ most important commitments regarding the health system over the past 10 years,” David O’Toole, CIHI’s president and CEO, said.

“Our data shows where progress has been made – most Canadians are now getting their priority surgeries done within prescribed benchmarks – but it also shows where we still have room for improvement.

READ MORE: Why wait times for psychiatrists vary depending on where you live

There has been a 34 per cent increase in radiation treatments performed in 2014 compared to 2010. Still, 98 per cent of the time, the therapy was administered within the 28-day baseline.

READ MORE: Snapshot of health care in Canada – what you need to know

Wait times for hip fractures improved, too: 84 per cent of the time, they’re done within the benchmark – a six per cent improvement from four years ago. This was the only surgery that saw a “substantial” change compared to 2010.

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See CIHI’s full report here.

carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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