The amount of time that Saskatchewanians and Manitobans spend waiting in emergency departments rose compared to previous years..A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) through the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) looked at the median number of hours that patients spend waiting in the emergency department. .The national average is 3.6 hours and 10% of patients waited 12.4 hours. The Yukon had the lowest average in Canada at 2.4 hours and 10% waited 5.9 hours.. Vicki Mowat .Manitoba was the worst performer in the country, with 5.2 hours average and 10% of patients waiting 20.6 hours..READ MORE Manitoba’s announces $5 million healthcare program addressing ‘critical situations’.Saskatchewan had the second lowest wait with a three-hour average and 10% of patients waited over 10.1 hours..Sask NDP Official Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat said they are concerned about rising wait times, including a four-year-old cancer patient waiting 20 hours in a Regina emergency department last month..“It’s deeply troubling that emergency wait times are rising in Saskatchewan. Just last month, a four-year-old with cancer was forced to wait 20 hours in a Regina ER,” said Mowat..Mowat expects the Saskatchewan government to work non-stop to fix the overflowing problem in hospitals across the province..“The Sask Party government should be working day and night to fix our overflowing hospitals,” said Mowat..“Instead, they walked back their commitment to eliminate wait times in emergency rooms and abandoned all public targets for emergency room wait time reductions. Scott Moe’s Sask Party government has no credible plan to fix our hospitals and hardworking Saskatchewan people are paying the price.”.READ MORE Sask Health Minister responds to healthcare report, some challenges in the system.CIHI Clinical Administrative Databases Operations Program Lead Nicole Loreti said that the total volume of emergency department visits has crept up almost to pre-pandemic levels..“The total visit volume increased from the previous year. We see the volumes creeping back up, almost, not quite, but approaching pre-pandemic volumes,” said Loreti..The data in this report goes up to March 2022. The data for the rest of 2022 will be in February’s report..Loreti said “it is likely those numbers will remain steady or increase when that report comes up.”.Loreti cautions that there are many factors to consider when looking at the numbers, as some areas have more healthcare shortages, and what hospital services are available compared to the needs of each patient..“Access to primary care in the community, access to virtual care, access to long-term care so patients can flow through the hospitals,” said Loreti..Loreti hopes the report will alert provinces to the need to address the rising numbers..“We hope that our data that we’re releasing can help provide some insights and some monitoring to the metrics around lengths of stay to be used as a catalyst for discussions in identifying areas for improvements, ultimately to improve the healthcare system,” said Loreti..The Saskatchewan Health Association and the Saskatchewan Party did not respond to the Western Standard’s requests.
