Home > Health Care System > Reports and Publications > Health Care > Final Report of the Federal Advisor on Wait Times

Final Report of the Federal Advisor on Wait Times

Brian D. Postl, MD
Federal Advisor on Wait Times
June 2006
ISBN 0-662-43473-0 (PDF version)
Cat. H21-272/2006E (PDF version)

Help on accessing alternative formats, such as PDF, MP3 and WAV files, can be obtained in the alternate format help section.

(209KB)

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements

Brian D. Postl, MD
Federal Advisor on Wait Times

To: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
The Honourable Tony Clement

In July 2005 I was invited to assume the role of Federal Advisor on Wait Times. I was asked to inquire into the factors contributing to long wait times and to discuss with provinces, territories and stakeholders efforts that could contribute to more timely access to health care services. The federal government at that time sought recommendations and advice, respectful of jurisdictions and powers in Canada, which would ensure the reduction of wait times for health care services.

Specifically my mandate was to:

advance further action to achieve meaningful reductions in wait times;
identify and continue to develop consensus on establishing comparative indicators and evidence-based benchmarks;
assess knowledge gaps and find ways to address them; and
encourage the adoption of methods and tools to better manage wait times.

I am happy to report to you that I have enjoyed the cooperation of many jurisdictions, institutions and individuals who share in the objective of making timely access to health care a hallmark of Canada's health care systems.

In December of 2005 Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Health achieved the first major commitment of the 2004 "10-Year Plan to Strengthen Health Care". Ten evidence-based benchmarks for timely care in five areas defined by the First Ministers were announced in Toronto, Ontario. These ten benchmarks established a high standard with respect to clinical evidence and for collaboration amongst federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions. They have incited the health care system to action in these clinical areas and have established high expectations on the part of the public, professionals and your political colleagues for the health care system's achievement.

While the declaration of evidence-based benchmarks is an important milestone in the ongoing effort to reduce wait times, benchmarks alone will not solve the problem of timely access to the health care system. Many factors combine to create the long waits that Canadians sometimes experience. It is the analysis and remediation of these factors that will help to ensure that our achievements in establishing benchmarks show lasting benefits to Canadians. I believe that the consultations that I have undertaken have illuminated many areas to which we can now turn our attention, with the assurance that collective effort on a continuing basis can improve the health care system's efficiency, effectiveness and timeliness.

It is my pleasure to document these findings for your consideration and for that of the public, our provincial and professional colleagues. It is my hope that my observations and recommendations will permit federal, provincial and territorial governments to engage in additional forward-thinking collaborations and to achieve the kind of health care system that succeeds by making the patient and the patient's needs the focus for our decisions regarding system change. This report is written not only to create a public record of my findings but also to provide an inventory of tools, processes and initiatives that could be employed by individual provinces, territories and governments collaboratively to transform Canada's health care system.

Where my recommendations have funding implications estimates provided are notional and subject to further discussion and negotiation between federal, provincial and territorial governments.

Your government has committed itself to the creation of patient wait times guarantees and will undoubtedly discuss with provincial governments the means to achieve these. I believe that the recommendations put forward here are critical to building the kind of health care system that make the fulfillment of patient wait times guarantees possible.

I have been honoured to have the responsibility of this mandate and I am pleased to submit for your consideration this Final Report.

Respectfully submitted,

signature - Brian Postl, M.D.

Brian Postl, M.D.

Acknowledgements

During the nine months of my appointment as Federal Advisor on Wait Times I have enjoyed the cooperation of a wide array of organizations and individuals across Canada. To all of them I owe a debt of gratitude for their contributions to my understanding of the issues surrounding wait times and the analysis and recommendations that are found in this document.

In particular I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of my Advisory Committee and the federal, provincial and territorial Deputy Ministers of Health who freely and generously made time available. A complete listing of all contributors to this process can be found in Appendix G of this report.

I was ably assisted by staff seconded from The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority: Ms. Kim Morrison, Intergovernmental Advisor; Ms. Heidi Graham, Communications Advisor, and Ms. Jolene Chester, Executive Assistant.

I would also like to specifically thank a small but remarkable team that managed the project and the production of this Final Report:

Charlotte Johnson, B.A. (Hons.), M.Sc.
Director
Canadian Wait Time Project

Vivian Sandberg Senior Policy Analyst	Anne Janes, B.A. (Hons.), M.P.A. Policy Analyst

Cathy Martens Administrative Support	Tamara Pomanski, B.A., M.P.A. Policy Analyst

I would also like to express appreciation for the oversight of Health Canada's Deputy Minister Mr. Morris Rosenberg. His liaison was helpful and respectful of my arm's-length relationship to Health Canada.

There are likely other contributors who I have failed to acknowledge, some of whom may have contributed to this final report through more senior officials. I have appreciated the careful attention and advice of many who are not recognized formally in this report.

Acknowledgements

Executive Summary

Executive Summary
Benchmarks, indicators and ongoing research
Management and innovation
Information technology
Professional roles and responsibilities
Additional issues
Public education
Additional considerations
Conclusion