Many P.E.I. patients waited 127 days for cataract surgery: report

A new report from the Office of the Auditor General in Prince Edward Island found Health PEI did not properly calculate the wait times for certain surgeries, among other issues.

The report, released on Tuesday, focused on wait times for cataract, knee replacement, and hip replacement surgeries, noting that the median wait time for those operations increased by 35 per cent between 2013 and 2022.

“Health PEI had systems and processes for tracking, managing, and reporting on patients waiting for cataract, knee replacement, and hip replacement surgeries,” the report states. “However, the information was not being used to take corrective action where required.”

The report found Health PEI did not calculate surgical wait times according to national standards, although it did establish wait time goals based on those standards.

The report found that between April 1, 2022 and Sept. 30, 2022, half of cataract patients in P.E.I. received surgery within 127 days, more than two weeks shy of the 112 national benchmark. The report says that wait time was higher than all other jurisdictions, excluding Newfoundland.

The report found P.E.I. also struggled to hit the 182-day benchmark for knee and hip replacement surgeries. Half of patients needing knee replacement received it within 210 days, but half waiting for hip replacement got it with 164 days.

“Patients waiting for these surgeries can experience a decreased quality of life,” the report says.

The report also found “significant issues” around the communication of wait time information. It says Health PEI did not report some key surgical wait time information to the public, did not report current surgical wait times to the public, did not track or report on consult wait times, and did not provide a correct description in its website on how wait times are measured.

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