Average Waiting Time For Surgery In Canada Down To 16 Weeks

October 30, 2009 3:04 p.m. EST

Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - Two major reports on health care in Canada which came out Thursday showed an improvement in the wellness situation across the country.

According to the Fraser Institute's yearly report on wait times, the average period before Canadians could undergo surgery and other therapeutic treatments has gone down to 16.1 weeks in 2009. It is down from 17.3 weeks average in 2008.

It is the second straight year that wait times showed an improvement after 15 years of no movement since the Fraser Institute started monitoring wait times.

The least waiting time between a doctor's referral and treatment was 12.5 weeks, registered in Ontario. Manitoba logged 14.3 weeks, Quebec 16.6 weeks, British Columbia 17 weeks, Alberta 19.6 weeks, Nova Scotia 23.1 weeks, Saskatchewan 25.2 weeks, New Brunswick 25.8 weeks, Prince Edward Islands 26.7 weeks, and Newfoundland and Labrador 27.3 weeks.

Meanwhile, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information's 10-year review of health care in the country, there have been less invasive surgeries done. Instead doctors recommended new technologies such as the computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which had cut lengths of stay in hospitals and reduced costs of testing and treatment.

Another positive development is the decline in heart attacks and heart attack death rates which has tumbled down 30 percent from 1998 to 2004. There are also fewer teen Canadians now smoking, but chronic ailments like diabetes and high blood pressure have increased.

While spending on health care reached $172 billion in 2008, almost 60 percent of the hike was because of higher population, aging and inflation.