Alberta surgery wait times grow.

The Fraser Institute is a right wing research organisation dedicated to destroying medicare in Canada as it now exists. This does not mean their research is incorrect of course. The statistics are probably correct. It shows that more money needs to go into hospitals and hiring staff in the Alberta health system. The money from increased royalties could address the deficit in expenditure on health, education, roads etc. Of course if we were to withdraw from Afghanistan and tone down the buildup of our forces designed to help out the US this too would help. There is an opportunity cost to our role as junior partner's to US imperialism.


Alberta surgery wait times grow
Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Albertans are waiting more than three weeks longer for surgeries this year than in 2006, contributing to record wait times in Canada, suggests a report from the Fraser Institute.

In its 17th annual survey measuring median wait times in the provinces, the think-tank found it takes Canadians 18.3 weeks to span the queue from a family doctor's referral to receiving treatment, up from 17.8 weeks in 2006.

Alberta was one of six provinces that saw its wait times increase.


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Font:****After dipping slightly last year, Alberta's wait times rose significantly, to 19.5 weeks from 16.3 weeks in 2006, the Fraser Institute found.

Most of the backlog is occurring at the front end -- the wait between a visit to a family doctor and the first consultation with a specialist, said Nadeem Esmail, co-author of the report.

Esmail wasn't certain why Alberta experienced such a stark wait-time increase -- the province dropped two spots to the fourth-shortest surgical wait time, behind Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

But he suspects rapid growth of the province's population has exacerbated deep-rooted problems.

"It is a systemic problem," he said.

"The problem is with the health-care system itself," Esmail said.

Esmail advocates an entire overhaul of the Canadian health-care system, including fees for patients and a greater role for private health care. He anticipates wait times will worsen as the population ages.

"We are actually seeing a deterioration to access here despite the billions of dollars committed to the Canadian health-care system," Esmail said Monday.

The Calgary and Area Physicians Association, meanwhile, is calling for changes to the billing system, contending the region's escalating cost of doing business has pushed many family doctors to close their practices.

In turn, the search to find a family doctor in Calgary is getting longer and more difficult, adding to the waits for some patients.

Currently in Calgary, it's estimated that 19 to 25 per cent of residents -- or up to 255,000 -- are without a family doctor.

The federal government has promised to introduce wait-time guarantees for certain key procedures, such as radiation therapy and hip replacements.

The intention of wait-time guarantees is to offer alternatives, such as private care, to patients who can't get timely access through the public system in their own community.

Several provinces, including Alberta, are reluctant to sign on, however.

"Wait-time guarantees are not the way to go," said Alberta Health spokesman Howard May, arguing they don't address the underlying challenges.

"The most crucial aspect right now is staffing."

rdaliesio@theherald.canwest.com