Canadian patients waited a
record 21.2 weeks to receive treatment from a specialist after being referred by their general practitioner in 2017, according to the latest
survey of wait times by the Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based think tank. That's a week longer than last year -- and more than double the corresponding figure from 1993, when Fraser
began keeping track.
Patients with complex medical needs
languished even longer. Those in need of neurosurgery, for instance, faced a median wait of nearly 33 weeks. For orthopedic surgery, wait times exceeded 41 weeks.
While months-long delays are routine in the Canadian system, years-long waits are not unprecedented. One Ontario patient was recently
asked to wait four-and-a-half years to see a neurologist.
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