TORONTO — The Canadian Institute for Health Information says more surgeries are being performed than before the pandemic — but wait times have still grown longer.
Researchers say efforts to increase surgeries and diagnostic procedures have not kept up with a growing and aging population, or with health-care worker shortages.
The report released today looked at wait times for hip and knee replacements, cataract procedures and cancer surgeries in 2019 and in 2024.
The percentage of patients receiving hip and knee replacements within the recommended six-month time frame decreased, even though the number of surgeries increased by more than 20 per cent.
Doctors performed more breast, bladder, colorectal and lung cancer surgeries in 2024 than they did in 2019, but the median wait times still rose by between one and five days.
The median wait time for prostate cancer surgery increased to 50 days in 2024 from 41 days in 2019 and unlike the other cancer surgeries, the number of procedures performed decreased.
The average wait time for an M-R-I was 15 days longer in 2024 than it was pre-pandemic.