Budget Bulletin: Improving Wait Times

In 2004-05, $465,000 will be invested to begin development of an approach to implement standardized, provincewide wait time information.

The initiative was recommended by the wait time monitoring project steering committee, which was formed in 2003-04 to focus on how to get better provincewide information on wait times for key services to help address problems before they become urgent.

The province will also establish a standing advisory committee of health-care professionals and department staff to:

• oversee the development of a provincewide way of collecting standard wait time information for a range of health care services;
• publish wait time information so that Nova Scotians can make informed choices about whether to seek care from another physician if wait times are shorter;
• work to address the bottlenecks so that wait times are shortened.

They will begin focusing on orthopedic surgical wait times, MRI and computed tomography (CT) wait times, and wait times for referral from family physician to gastroenterologist, medical oncologist, or plastic surgeon.

ADDRESSING CRITICAL CONCERNS
The province outlined its commitment to shortening wait lists for tests, treatment, and care in its health plan, Your Health Matters (2003).

In the past year, the province responded quickly to critical concerns such as overcrowded emergency rooms and lengthy waits for orthopedic services. For instance, at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, more beds, better information, and faster consultations are making a difference in wait times in the emergency department.

In Capital Health, the government's decision to add 25 acute care beds and more operating time for orthopedic surgery by September 2004, "should help bring wait times down to within national standard of six months," said Dr. Michael Dunbar, head of Capital Health's orthopedic wait time project. More than $4 million will be spent on this initiative in 2004-05.

Thanks to a new cardiac catheterization lab, made possible with $4.4 million in funding from the Department of Health in 2003-04, Capital Health's wait times for cardiac procedures have been brought to within national wait time standards, in many cases reducing wait times by a one half to two thirds from a year earlier.

Radiation wait times for Cancer Care Services in Capital Health, as of July 2003, showed that urgent cases wait times decreased from 14 to 9 days, next urgent cases wait times from 26 to 18 days, less urgent wait times from 55 to 28 days, and others from 60 to 41 days.

Investments in the right equipment are paying off:

• with the purchase of two MRI machines -- one for Cape Breton and one at the IWK in Halifax -- access to MRIs has been enhanced and wait times reduced. In Capital Health, people who need an MRI are getting the procedure a lot sooner. The average wait time is now 45.2 days, almost three times less than the 148.2 days people were waiting last March. Urgent or emergency MRIs are done immediately;
• a new radiology unit has opened in South Shore Health and a CT scanner is now operating in Cumberland Health. These should help reduce the waiting for diagnostic imaging in these areas.

There is no quick fix to shorten wait times. It will take time to gather the right information, to invest in the right equipment, and to offer the right mix of services in the right locations. The budget dollars being invested this fiscal year are laying the groundwork to successfully shorten wait lists for key services across the province.

NOTE: For further 2004-05 budget information, see the Department of Finance website at www.gov.ns.ca/finance .