September 17, 1999
(Health and Community Services)

Hospital wait times for treatment below national average in seven of 12 areas

Joan Marie Aylward, Minister of Health and Community Services, said today she is pleased with how Newfoundland and Labrador fares with regard to hospital waiting lists when stacked up against the rest of the country, although she recognizes there are some areas which need to be improved. The results come from 1998 data released in The Fraser Institute's report yesterday, Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada (9th edition). The minister cautions that statistics from this report should be viewed carefully as a result of lack of standardization of such data across the country.

"The report shows that Newfoundland has the lowest waiting time in all of Canada for internal medicine and gynecology procedures," said the minister. "We have the second lowest wait time in the country for neurosurgery, radiation oncology and orthopaedic surgery." The province also ranks well having the third lowest wait time for ophthalmology and fourth lowest for general surgery. "These rates speak well for the management of the health care system in this province," said the minister.

The minister said she recognizes there are specialty areas for which wait time needs to be improved, like cardiovascular surgery, otolaryngology and medical oncology. "In the area of medical oncology, the province had doubled its specialist complement since the 1998 data was collected for this report," said the minister. "An improvement should be seen in this area in next year's report by the Institute."

Wait times are affected by many factors, including the incidence of particular diseases in the province. Problems of the circulatory system, for example, are quite prevalent in Newfoundland and Labrador, due to poor diet, smoking and other personal care factors like lack of exercise. Consequently, cardiovascular surgeries put a very high demand on the system.

The minister assured patients that in a publicly funded health system where patients take turns waiting for medical treatment, they will be seen as quickly as possible. The minister also noted that patients should report any change in their condition to their family physician. Emergency cases receive priority over all others waiting for treatment.

Media contact: Karen McCarthy, (709) 729-6670.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Fraser Institute Report is available at //www.fraserinstitute.ca

1999 09 17 12:30 p.m.