SURGERY
THE BEST RESULTS
Joseph Brant’s wait for hip replacement surgery was half Ontario’s average in May.
It takes 70 days on average to get hip replacement surgery in Burlington. All patients got their operation at Joseph Brant within the provincial target.
The wait was longer for knee surgery at 91 days on average, but still well below the provincial average of 120 days.
HHS had the lowest lumbar and cervical disc surgery wait times in the province last fiscal year.
It took 36 days on average to get the back surgery at HHS compared to Ontario’s 138 days. The neck surgery is done even faster at 27 days compared to the province’s 95 days.
Despite the better-than-average times, only about 60 per cent of patients got their surgery within the province’s target at HHS.
While waits are high to get hip and knee replacements at HHS, it is fast to get the first appointment with the specialist. All HHS patients saw the surgeon for the first time within Ontario’s target.
The opposite is true for forefoot surgery at HHS. There is a bottleneck to get the first appointment, but waits are lower than average for surgery.
Both HHS and Joseph Brant have low waits for knee arthroscopy.
Eye surgery THE BOTTOM LINE
Patients wait a long time for a first appointment with a cataract surgeon in Hamilton and Burlington.
THE WORST RESULTS
It took too long to get cataract surgery at Joseph Brant Hospital.
As of May, patients waited an average of 188 days. It was above Ontario’s target of 182 days and the provincial average of 94 days.
In total, just over half of Burlington patients got their surgery within the province’s target time, compared with Ontario’s average of 84 per cent.
The wait for a first appointment with the surgeon was also high.
It took 125 days on average at St. Joseph’s Healthcare and 104 days at Joseph Brant to see the surgeon. Ontario’s average is 76 days.
At St. Joseph’s, one in four patients didn’t get the first appointment within the province’s target times. The provincial average is one in 10.
THE BEST RESULTS
Waits for cataract surgery were half the provincial average at St. Joseph’s.
While there is a bottleneck to get the first appointment, the process moves much more quickly once a decision is made.
Patients waited 42 days on average for the actual surgery, compared to Ontario’s average of 94 in May.
Surgery wait times were also low for cornea transplants and glaucoma at St. Joseph’s. More than 90 per cent of glaucoma patients got their surgery within the target at St. Joseph’s, compared to Ontario’s average of 79 per cent.
Patients also got first appointments with a surgeon quickly for vitrectomy to improve vision for a number of eye conditions. All patients were seen within provincial targets in May.
Heart surgery THE BOTTOM LINE
Waits for heart surgery in Hamilton were low.
THE WORST RESULTS
There are no below-average results.
THE BEST RESULTS
Hamilton Health Sciences had significantly lower-than-average wait times in May for surgeries that improve blood flow to the heart.
Patients waited just under four days for angioplasty at HHS, once the decision to have the procedure was made. The provincial average was nearly 11 days and the target is 28 days.
Bypass surgery is equally impressive, with patients waiting just over 14 days compared to Ontario’s average of about 27 days.
Cancer surgery THE BOTTOM LINE
Hamilton and Burlington hospitals are well within provincial targets for cancer surgery waits, with two exceptions.
Thyroid and endocrine cancer patients waited too long for a first appointment with a surgeon at St. Joseph’s Healthcare between January and March.
Prostate cancer patients waited almost double the recommended time on average, getting their first appointment with the surgeon at St. Joseph’s at 67 days, instead of 36.
The wait for prostate cancer patients is likely due to the popularity of the robotic surgical system used at St. Joseph’s for the vast majority of radical prostatectomies.
Once patients have that initial appointment, they get their surgery within the target for both types of cancers.
THE WORST RESULTS
Prostate cancer surgery at St. Joseph’s had the worst wait in the province from January to March. A group of men waited an average of 69 days for surgery, compared to the provincial average of 51 days. However, it was still within the province’s 84-day target.
Also of note is that St. Joseph’s had the second-highest wait in the province for genitourinary cancer surgery in May. Patients with the cancer related to the genital and urinary organs waited nearly double the provincial average of 37 days.
St. Joseph’s also had higher-thanaverage surgery waits for thyroid, endocrine and breast cancer patients.
In fact, breast cancer patients waited longer at all area hospitals from January to March. HHS and Joseph Brant had higher-thanaverage waits to get a first appointment as well as the operation itself.
In Burlington, nearly one in three women did not get a first appointment with the surgeon within Ontario’s target. The provincial average is fewer than one in 10.
Joseph Brant also had longer waits for genitourinary cancer patients to see a surgeon and for prostate cancer patients to get surgery.
HHS had higher-than-average waits for neurological cancer patients.
THE BEST RESULTS
St. Joseph’s had no wait time at all for lung cancer patients to see a surgeon. The stunning result from January to March compared to Ontario’s average of eight days.
It took a mere five days on average for a group of genitourinary patients to see a surgeon at HHS, which was the best in the province. Ontario’s average is 26 days.
For all genitourinary patients at HHS, 100 per cent got their surgery within Ontario’s target. Joseph Brant was also better than average at meeting Ontario targets for genitourinary cancer surgery.
HHS tied London Health Sciences for having gynecological patients seen within 10 days of being referred to a surgeon, which was best in the province.
Both HHS and St. Joseph’s have fast wait times for gastrointestinal cancer patients; while St. Joseph’s is also better than average for head and neck cancer surgery waits.
Hamilton and Burlington hospitals are well within provincial targets for cancer surgery waits, with two exceptions.