A report from the Fraser Institute says the median for health treatment wait times has dropped in Manitoba but it`s still above the national number.
The Fraser Institute study examined total wait time from referral by a GP, to specialist consultation, to treatment. Manitoba's median wait time dropped from 25.9 weeks in 2013 to 19.4 now. The median for Canada is 18.3 weeks.
Manitoba`s health minister Sharon Blady credits some system changes for the drop, working with health care providers and streamlining the process, as well as making some investments.
"You know, in the past 16 years, the volume of MRI scans has gone up sevenfold, and so what we've been doing is we've been making sure that we've been putting in more MRIs, so you know we've got them coming out actually into Selkirk, there's new ones coming up here in Winnipeg, there's actually some stuff happening in Dauphin, I'll be there in a couple of days and we'll be talk about the investments we're making, you know, in your part of the province to make sure we can bring down wait times," says Blady.
A report from the Wait Time Alliance gives Manitoba an F and a D in prostate and breast cancer treatment wait times respectively. Blady says that doesn't match up with the feedback she's getting from CancerCare in terms of the progress they're making.
Manitoba's Progressive Conservative health critic says the two reports show more bad news for patients in this province.
Myrna Driedger says being below the national number for median wait times isn't particularly acceptable.
"I think it just, you know, keeps raising concerns. ...The last two years running, we've had the worst ER wait times in Canada. We have got a very, very critical shortage of PCH beds in this province," says Driedger.
Driedger says Manitoba should be looking at other provinces for what they're doing successfully and taking those ideas.
According to the Fraser Institute report, Saskatchewan has gone from a 29 week waiting time high in 2011 to 13.6 weeks now, the shortest in the country.
Blady says she has some concerns about Saskatchewan, saying she thinks there's been some movement towards a two-tiered system. But Blady says Manitoba has something similar to Saskatchewan's pooled referral system.
