TORONTO - The provinces are making some headway in their quest to reduce wait times for cancer treatment, bypass surgery, hip replacements and cataract surgery, but most of them still aren't up to scratch in the area of knee replacements.
A report issued Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information examined wait time data in a number of areas identified as priorities by Canada's health ministers in 2005.
"There is some traction and some progress to report," said Helen Angus, vice-president of research and analysis at the institute.
For instance, eight out of 10 provinces have at least 79 per cent of patients receiving cancer treatment within 28 days.
"I think back to 2001 and the fact that cancer patients were going to border cities to get radiation treatment -- that's a substantial improvement," Angus said in an interview.
"That shows a commitment certainly to the cancer population and to the cancer delivery system."
Seven of 10 provinces have more than 90 per cent of heart bypass surgeries occurring within 26 weeks, the report showed.
There are a number of reasons for the improvement, including the use of drug-eluting stents that mean a second surgery might not be required, Angus said.
As for cataract surgery, the report said five provinces -- Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia -- have more than 75 per cent of patients being taken care of within the recommended 16-week time period.
For hip replacements, six provinces are meeting the benchmark, with three-quarters of patients having their surgeries within 26 weeks.
But knee troubles persist.
The data show that only Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Ontario have reached the benchmark of 75 per cent or more of patients who need knee surgery getting it within a 26-week period.
Patients with bad knees say the constant pain makes the waiting extremely difficult.
Kimberley Sullivan, 49, of Truro, N.S., hurt her knee as a teenager playing basketball and developed arthritis. She had arthroscopic surgery about 11 years ago, but the knee started to deteriorate again.
One of her doctors told her she has 87-year-old knees.
As an educator, she's often on her feet and her knee becomes swollen. She went on a waiting list for a knee replacement more than 18 months ago, she said.
"It does seem like a very long time when you're in pain. I guess that's the point I'm at. I'm sort of reaching the point where it's hard to cope."
Likewise, Margaret Foster, who lives just outside St. John's, N.L., went on the waiting list about two years ago to have both knees replaced.
Foster, 55, needs to be pushed in a wheelchair or use a motorized cart to go shopping, and can't go up and down stairs.
"It's 24-7 with pain, really bad pain," she said. "I'm currently wearing a patch for the pain."
She finally got a call for surgery last week but couldn't have it performed because of a bout of bronchitis.
Angus said there has been a large increase in the number of knee operations done over the last few years.
Statistics show that in 2004, there were 28,500 knee replacements done in Canada, compared to 38,400 in 2006.
"That tells you that we're doing a lot more procedures. It's just there's probably a lot more people wanting and needing to have knee replacements done," she said.
"Some of that is a function of obesity, some it's a function of changing expectations that older Canadians have about mobility and being active."
Wait times for knee replacements are going down consistently in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C., even though not all those provinces are meeting the benchmarks, she said.
But it's little consolation for those still waiting.
"We hear about wait times and emergency and so on, but until you're in this situation you don't realize how terrible it is," said Sullivan.
"I'd love to see the wait times go down."
Foster said that whatever is being done to reduce wait times, they should try something different "because it's really not working."
"It's ridiculous to wait this long," she said.
