VGH and Jubilee emergency patients wait less than national, B.C. averages

Patient waits at Victoria General and Royal Jubilee hospitals are shorter than the national average, even though B.C. wait times are typically longer.

A report on emergency department wait times released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information says that nine out of 10 patients who visit an emergency room in Canada are discharged within 7.8 hours. In B.C., most patients visits are completed with 8.4 hours.

That compares with 5.8 hours at Victoria General and 6.2 hours at Royal Jubilee, according to Island Health.

Patients waiting to be admitted to the hospital for further care spent much longer in emergency departments.

In B.C., 90 per cent of those visits were completed within 42.7 hours — up 21 per cent from 35.4 hours in 2015-16, and above the national average of 32.6 hours.

At Royal Jubilee the wait of 42 hours for admitted patients is about the same as the B.C. average. At Victoria General, the wait was 23.3 hours.

Several factors, including age and time of day, influence how long a patient spends in the emergency department before being admitted.

National figures show that 90 per cent of visits for patients 65 and older were completed within 36.3 hours, up almost five hours from 2015-16.

Admitted patients who arrived in the emergency department between 9 and 10 p.m. spent the longest time waiting, the report says, with 90 per cent of visits completed within 38.1 hours. In 2015-16, that wait was 26.7 hours.

“The time patients spend in the emergency room prior to being admitted to hospital is long — and is increasing for those who wait the longest,” CIHI’s Greg Webster said in a statement.

“This can affect patients’ outcomes and is influenced by several factors, including those beyond the emergency department, like access to hospital beds and to long-term care and home care.”