Reducing wait times for medical care

Actually the socalled political term "guarantee" seems preferable from a patient point of view because it will force governments to provide alternative care if the province cannot arrange it within the province. "targets" would let the system off the hook. It seems that health care professionals are protecting the system rather than the patient but I guess that should be no surprise. At least the government is going in the right direction--no pun intended!


All provinces to provide wait-time guarantees in one area: Harper
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 4, 2007 | 7:06 PM ET
CBC News
All 10 provinces and three territories have agreed to provide wait-time guarantees in a treatment area of their choosing by 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday.


Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivers a speech to participants at a conference on hospital wait times in Ottawa Wednesday.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)
Harper, who spoke to medical professionals at a conference in Ottawa, said the provinces and territories will provide the guarantees by drawing upon more than $1 billion allocated in the March federal budget.

The prime minister said the new agreement is part of the government's plan to deliver on its top five election promises.

"During the last election campaign, our party made a clear and unequivocal commitment to Canadians. We promised to sit down with the provinces to develop patient wait-time guarantees," he said.

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"As a result, Nova Scotians, Manitobans and Albertans battling cancer will soon obtain more timely radiation treatment. Ontarians will face a shorter wait for cataract surgery.

"Quebecers waiting for hip or knee replacement surgery will have access to this care more quickly."

Before Wednesday's announcement, three provinces — Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia — had each pledged to provide a patient wait-time guarantee in a specific treatment area.

Harper said the guarantees will be in at least one of the following areas: cancer care, hip and knee replacement, cardiac care, diagnostic imaging, cataract surgeries or primary care.

The areas have been selected by each province and territory based on its priorities, capacity and different starting points, he added.

"When a government makes an investment in the health of people, it's making an investment in the country's future," he said.

Details yet to be worked out
Harper did not say how the federal government will ensure that the provinces and territories deliver on the guarantees and it was not clear how long individual waiting periods for various procedures will be.

Harper spoke at the annual Taming of the Queue conference, a meeting in Ottawa that has focused on the issue of wait times since 2004.

The prime minister thanked the medical community at the conference for drawing attention to the issue of wait-times.

Tom MacIntosh, spokesperson for Canadian Research Policy Networks, a think-tank that organized the conference, said the details still need to be worked out about the guarantees but they likely lead to more efficient health care.

"What the prime minister has announced today is one piece of the puzzle of managing and reducing wait times. It's not the entire puzzle yet," he said.

"Many of those pieces are beginning to fall into place in many provinces, but we are still a ways away from a full fledged wait-times guarantee."

'Benchmark' rather than 'guarantee'
MacIntosh said health-care professionals prefer to use the word "benchmark" or "target," rather than the word "guarantee," which he described as a political term.

"There's a real concern that failure to meet a guarantee could lead to court cases," he added.

But MacIntosh said the agreement is still good news.

In the budget, Harper said more than $1 billion is divided into two federal initiatives.

The government has set aside $612 million for a trust to help the provinces and territories provide the patient wait-time guarantees.

And it has allocated $400 million in new funding for the Canada Health Infoway, an organization that is working with the provinces and territories to improve the electronic delivery of health records.

Pilot projects
During the election campaign, the government initially promised wait-time guarantees in five priority areas — cancer, heart, diagnostic imaging, joint replacements and sight restoration.

The idea was that patients forced to wait overly long periods of time for specific medical care would be able to go to other jurisdictions or locations within the provinces or territories to get treatment.

In the budget, the government also promised $30 million over three years for pilot projects on establishing wait-time guarantees.

Four pilot projects aimed at improving wait times for medical care have been announced so far.

Three are designed to test guarantees for prenatal and diabetes care in a few First Nations communities, while the fourth is a pediatric pilot project designed to monitor wait times for children across the country in need of surgery.

With files from the Canadian

NS gets funds for establishing wait time guarantees

Giving wait time guarantees not only will help to prevent long queues for some treatments but will also encourage provincial systems to invest in imaging and other equipment since otherwise they will be faced with costly transportation expenses to send patients to other jurisdictions. As long as there are no guarantees jurisdictions will simply refuse to pay for sending patients elsewhere since nothing forces them to do so. This encourages even longer queues and a two tier system where the rich will simply not wait but go to the US or elsewhere and pay themselves.


N.S. gets millions for wait-time guarantees
Updated Mon. Mar. 26 2007 10:05 AM ET

Canadian Press

HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia became the first province Monday to sign on to Ottawa's plan to establish wait-time guarantees for health care.

Federal Health Minister Tony Clement said Nova Scotia will draw $24.2 million from a $612-million trust fund -- announced in last week's federal budget -- to establish a wait-time guarantee for cancer radiation therapy by 2010.

The agreement states that patients needing radiation will wait no longer than eight weeks for treatment. If there is a longer delay, the patient will be given other options, including transportation to another jurisdiction.

"Today, ladies and gentlemen, Canada's health-care system truly enters the world of patient wait-time guarantees,'' Clement told a news conference in Halifax.

The province will also be eligible for up to $48 million over the next three years to implement other health-care wait time initiatives.

The funding announcement was expected to be the first in a series regarding the national program.

"We know that Canadians demand and deserve a better health-care system,'' he said. "This kind of agreement, between Canada and Nova Scotia, indicates it can be done.''

Nova Scotia also launched two wait-time pilot projects, the money for which will be drawn from a separate $30-million federal fund.

One project aims to improve diagnostic imaging for orthopedic patients, while the second will develop a centralized waiting list for people in need of hip and knee replacements.

"I feel very, very passionate about this agreement,'' said Nova Scotia Health Minister Chris d'Entremont.

"I'm extremely proud that our province is taking a leadership role today.''

Clement said Nova Scotia will also be eligible to benefit from a $400-million Health Canada fund that aims to develop electronic health records for the so-called Canada Health Infoway.