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Wait Times and Waitlists

More than 430,00 surgeries were done in BC hospitals in 2004/05. More than half were done as emergencies, and do not appear in waitlist data.

Any surgery that is booked in advance appears on a waitlist, even if the operation is performed in less than 24 hours from booking.

The number of people appearing on a waitlist is not a reliable indicator of real access to surgery:

• The data is unreliable. In 2004, the ministry began auditing wait list cases against other ministry databases. Approximately 14,500 cases have been identified that should no longer be on the wait list, as most of these patients have already received their surgery. These cases have been removed from the waitlist for public reporting while hospitals check the outdated cases and remove them from their booking lists. The ministry will continue to audit waitlist data to identify and examine any anomalies.
• Waitlists are part of the system. As the number of surgeries increases, the number of people booked for surgery grows, and more people appear on waitlists.

The length of time people actually wait for surgery is a more important indicator. Most waitlisted surgeries in BC are done quickly:

• 10% of all waitlisted surgeries are done in less than a week
• 25% in less than two weeks
• 50% are done by just over a month
• 75% by just over three months
• 90% in less than seven months

The numbers for major surgical specialities are available on the most recent median wait times and waitlist web page.

BC is a leader in providing patients and families with local and physician-specific information for wait times for different surgeries.