Report critical of wait times in Canada
Posted Jun 21, 2012 10:24:23 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The co-author of a report showing wait times in Ontario are shorter than the national average says we should not be fooled by the numbers.
Dr. Chris Simpson, chair of Wait Time Alliance – a group of physicians and national medical societies – told 570’s Jeff Allan Show, that it’s only by comparison that the results look encouraging.
“Ontario looks good, but only looks good relative to the others. There are many other provinces that have done a little worse this year. Ontario has kind of held its own and has done a little bit better better, but you know in large part that’s because the standards aren’t that tough to reach,” he says.
The national report card, released this week, gave Ontario hospitals a failing grade for taking too long to move patients out of the emergency room and into beds. Spokespeople for Grand River and St. Mary’s Hospitals, however, say wait times have improved over the past year.
