Canada Fast on Repairs, Slow to Replace Joints

How long does a patient have to wait to get a hip or knee tended to in Canada? If a patient fractures a hip in Manitoba, 86% of the repairs are done within the health service benchmark of 48 hours. Across Canada 81% of hip fracture repairs were completed within the benchmark, according to a report in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Getting a knee or hip replacement is another story. According to the Free Press, while Manitoba is one of the quickest to repair hip fractures, it performed only 56% of its hip replacements and 46% of knee replacements within the health service established benchmark six-month period last year.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) reported that waits for joint replacement surgery vary greatly among provinces. More than half of the provinces—including Manitoba—reported a reduction in the percentage of procedures meeting the benchmark time frames over a three year period. The reason may be that the number of hip and knee replacements performed in Canada increased by 15% between 2010 and 2012, costing the health care system more than $100 million.

The Free Press report quoted Health Minister Theresa Oswald as saying that the province had cut waits for hip and knee replacements by 40% over the last two years—thanks to increased surgical capacity and a more streamlined system. Those needing non-emergency orthopedic surgery are now receiving them within the medically recommended benchmark—if they are willing to go to the first available surgeon.

Oswald told thes Free Press that only 1, 200 Manitobans are now awaiting non-emergency knee and hip replacement surgery, compared with 2, 000 two years ago. More than 3, 600 replacement surgeries were performed in Manitoba last year—more than twice the number performed in 2004.