Nova Scotia patients may not be surprised by results of wait times report

Patients in Nova Scotia endure the second-longest wait in the country for treatment by a specialist following a referral from their family doctor, according to a national report published Wednesday.

The report, conducted annually by the Fraser Institute, a think-tank, sayspatients in Nova Scotia wait a median of about 35 weeks nine weeks longer than 2015.

Those statistics come as no surprise to those who've waited that long, and then some.

"I have to live with chronic pain every day," said Patricia MacMillan, who has waited more than two years to have both knees replaced.

The Canadian Institute for Health Informationsupports the Fraser Institute's findings for several procedures. Between April and September 2015,the CIHI study reported knee surgery wait times are worse than those for any other procedure in the province.

But the province is getting more people into the operating room. TheCIHI numbersindicate that in 2015, about 41 per cent more patients had knee replacement surgery than eight years prior.

"If I get my joints fixed I could may even be able to go back to my job at the nursing home," said MacMillan. "But as of right now, I can't. I can't do anything."

Collateral injury

As she waits for treatment, MacMillan'sknees have given out, causinginjury elsewhere. She says she once fell on the stairs in her Truro home. When she grabbed the banister for support, she tore her rotator cuff.

"While you're waiting for one thing to get done, other things are deteriorating," her husband, Thom MacMillan, told CBC's Maritime Noon.

"[The problems] build on one another. Not being able to walk very far influences weight gain, which influences mental state because you're sitting around a little apartment."

Wait times longer across Canada

The Fraser Institute report measured wait times across 12 medical specialities this year in the 10 provinces. It says patients are waiting onabout a million procedures.

Nova Scotia's wait times are a reflection of what's happening nationally, the report said. Canadian patients had a median wait time of 20 weeks, the longest on record since the Fraser Institute began surveying wait times in 1993.

Within the province's median wait of 35 weeks, it takes about 17 weeks for a patient to see a specialist.

Fewer surveys were filled out in Atlantic Canada because there are fewer doctors in the region, which could skew results for wait times in those provinces, said Fraser Institute economist Bacchus Barua in an email.

Watching his wife wait for so long, Thom MacMillan worries about theeffects of being stuck in limbo.

"It's like a circle of frustration. You don't wantto be cynical," he said. "But it's not good for anyone's mental health."

• Orthopedic wait times targeted with $4.2M in funding

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