Manitoba’s hip and knee wait-list has been cut by 40 percent since 2011, thanks to the hard work of orthopedic surgeons, nurses and other health professionals. This announcement was made by Health Minister Theresa Oswald.
“When it comes to the most critical, life-saving surgeries, like cardiac surgery, radiation therapy and hip fracture repair, Manitobans benefit from the shortest wait times in the nation,” said Oswald. “Now, we are seeing the benefits of our investments to reduce the wait for quality-of-life surgeries for hip and knee replacement.”
In 2011, more than 2,000 patients were waiting for elective hip and knee replacement surgery, compared to about 1,200 today, the minister said. She added the wait-list does not include patients suffering from a hip or knee fracture, cases which are dealt with on an urgent or emergent basis and usually treated within 48 hours.
The centralized intake and referral process introduced last spring gives patients more choice so they can get their surgery within the medically recommended wait time, or benchmark, and is already showing results, said Oswald:
- in Brandon, 88 per cent of patients are receiving their surgery within benchmark, compared to a low of 17 per cent last year.
- in Morden/Winkler, 100 per cent of patients are receiving their surgery within benchmark, compared to a low of 73 per cent last year.
- in Winnipeg, which had some of the longest wait times, 56 per cent of patients are receiving their surgery within benchmark, compared to a low of 38 per cent last year.
“In addition to adding hundreds of surgeries across the province, a key part of our wait-list reduction plan has been about streamlining the intake process and providing patients with choice,” said Oswald. “Though there remains much work ahead, I am encouraged by the results we are seeing and the willingness of our orthopedic surgeons to use our new intake process.”
The new system offers patients the choice of the surgeon with the shortest wait time. Patients have the right to receive their care from the next available surgeon or to choose a specific surgeon, recognizing the wait may be longer.
During the summer of 2011, for example, Manitoba Health contacted 77 patients on the wait-list to offer them surgery in eight to 12 weeks, rather than the year they were expecting to wait. Of the 77 people contacted, only 12 agreed to change surgeons while 65 decided to wait with their original surgeon.
Wait-time statistics reflect patients who received their surgery that month. The minister noted the surgeons recognized how targeting patients waiting beyond the benchmark would affect the statistics, temporarily reflecting a greater number of patients who waited beyond benchmark to receive their surgery, but felt it was an important issue that needed to be addressed.
“By working with the health region to develop a better intake process to maximize surgery times and address the issue of long waiters, we know we are improving the system,” said Dr. Eric Bohm, medical director of centralized intake for hip and knee replacement, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. “As we continue to move forward, the system will continue to improve.”
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, more than 3,600 hip and knee replacement surgeries were performed in 2012 in Manitoba, more than twice the number of surgeries performed in 2004. The median wait time in Manitoba is now 20 weeks, down from 44 weeks in 2004. The medically recommended wait time for hip and knee replacement surgery is 26 weeks.
Manitoba already performs the second most hip and knee replacement surgeries per-capita in Canada, said Oswald
