Wait times for surgery up in Saskatchewan

Data from the Government of Saskatchewan shows the number of people waiting to have surgery in the province is rising.

The total number of people waiting for surgical procedures in Saskatchewan grew to 21,826 in January 2017 from 12,860 in February 2015.

More than 8,000 people are waiting longer than three months for their surgery, five times as many people as two years ago. The number of people waiting more than six months for surgery is now more thaneight times greater.

This includes all procedures performed in hospital operating rooms except most endoscopy procedures. The days patients are unavailable are subtracted from the wait time.

The NDP opposition has spoken out about the wait time increases, blaming the provincial government's recent budget.

"It's unacceptable to have anyone wait longer and longer for surgeries while no solutions, just cuts, are being presented by the Sask. Party," said NDP health critic Danielle Chartier.

"Surgery wait times have been going in the wrong direction for the last two years and for too long, the Sask. Party has hidden behind a broken promisethat provides no comfort to the many who are still waiting."

What happened to declining wait times?

In 2010, the Saskatchewan government launched the four-year Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative to improve access to surgery for residents.

Following this initiative, The Canadian Institute for Health Information listed the province among the shortest wait times in the country in 2015.

At the time, the provincial government boasted that 10,000 more surgeries were performed in 2014 than 2010 and the number of patients waiting more than three months for surgery had reportedly dropped by 87 per cent.

The provincial government attributes part of the recent increase in wait times to an increase in surgical volumes.

Since the Sask. Party formed government in 2007, the number of patients waiting more than six months for surgery is down 65 per cent. The list of people who wait more than three months is down 45 per cent.

"We know that we have had success in driving down some of our longest waits, and we will keep working on it," the Saskatchewan Government said in a statement.