Hundreds of patients in Montreal are waiting more than two months for urgent surgery to remove cancer tumours, according to statistics released by the Quebec provincial government.
Hundreds more are waiting throughout the province. This is part of a pan-Canadian phenomenon.
In a March 2013 press release the Canadian Institute for Health Information reported: “Waits for […] procedures vary greatly across provinces. More than half the provinces—Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, British Columbia and Saskatchewan—saw a reduction in the percentage of procedures meeting the benchmark time frames over a three-year period.”
The Montreal Gazette quotes patient-rights advocate Paul Brunet, of the Conseil pour la protection des malades, emphasizing the need for quicker service, saying cancer patients should get the surgery done within two weeks.
More information:
Montreal Gazette – Cancer surgery wait times longest in Montreal – here
Wait times for cancer surgery by city in province of Quebec – here
CBC News – Surgical wait times not improving – here
Conseil pour la protection des malades (patient rights group) – here
Canadian Institute for Health Information on wait times in Canada – here
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