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News from Canada Nearly 17,000 Canadians died between 2022 and 2023 while waiting for surgery or diagnostic tests, but that number could be much higher, according to a study published by SecondStreet.org.
The report issued by the research center showed that patients were awaiting procedures that “could have saved their lives,” such as heart surgery, and procedures that could improve their quality of life, such as hip replacement surgery.
He also stated that 17,032 patients died after waiting from less than a week to almost 11 years.
For his part, Colin Craig, president of SecondStreet.org, told CityNews: “This is a problem that we have seen across Canada and that has been increasing for several years and pre-coronavirus.”
“The reality is that unless we see serious health care reform in this country, I think this problem will continue,” he added.
The data was collected from freedom of information requests made to 33 health authorities nationwide.
Because many provinces have provided incomplete data, SecondStreet estimates the actual number of patient deaths in 2022-2023 to be 31,297 and estimated the number by extrapolating the provided data and applying it to health districts that did not provide data.
In 2023, 101 patients in Ontario died while waiting for heart surgery, and 36 of them died after waiting longer than the maximum recommended waiting time.
Since 2013, there have been 931 cases of Ontario patients dying while waiting for heart surgery, with 26 per cent of patients waiting longer than recommended.
In Alberta, 179 patients died while waiting for diagnostic testing in 2023, an increase from the previous year, and 61 died while waiting for surgery.
The report also notes that health care costs per person increased significantly from $1,714 in 1992-1993 to $5,607 in 2022-2023, and Craig said spending increased well above the rate of inflation and “continue to deteriorate.” ”
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