Speed up plan to cut wait times, doctors urge

A group of Canadian specialists recommends the federal government spend another $3 billion to reduce wait times to what it considers acceptable levels.

The plan by the Wait Time Alliance would see many patients get faster diagnosis and treatment for several procedures.

The suggested wait times include:

• Nine months for hip replacements.
• Six weeks for most scheduled heart surgeries.
• Within 16 weeks after the first consultation for cataract operations.

To reach the suggested wait-time goals, the doctors propose more spending on top of the $41 billion the federal government has already pledged for health care:

• $1 billion to add more doctors and nurses to the system.
• $2 billion to reimburse the costs of moving patients and their families to another province or country if they can't get timely care in their community.

Dr. Brian Postl of Winnipeg is helping the federal government develop its own wait-time guidelines. He considers the suggestions helpful, but not necessarily on the mark.

"We don't have good evidence, good research and good literature that supports some of these time frames," said Postl. "So they're a best guess at this point."

The alliance also wants the federal government to reduce the wait for its new plan from the end of 2007 to next spring.

"We feel the wait time issue has to be dealt with urgently, partly because of the resource shortage in different areas and partly because of the suffering of patients," said Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai, incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association in Edmonton.

Postl said he and the federal government want to move as quickly as possible, but notes revamping the health-care system is complex.