The Canadian Institute for Health Information says Manitoba has the longest wait times for cataract eye surgery in the country.
The benchmark for cataracts specifies surgery within 16 weeks or 112 days for patients who are at high risk.
But in Manitoba only 34 per cent of patients are receiving care within that benchmark. By 148 days, 50 per cent of patients have been operated on….90 per cent by 289 days.
People requiring knee replacements must also wait longer than many Canadians. The benchmark for knee surgery specifies surgery within 182 days. In Manitoba only 58 per cent of patients receive care within that benchmark.
Manitobans needing hip replacements are luckier. Sixty-six per cent of patients are receiving hip replacements within a benchmark of 182 days.
CIHI says three-quarters of Canadian patients received a hip or knee replacement, cataract surgery, hip fracture repair or cancer radiation therapy within the recommended wait times last year.
Its latest report looks at patient wait times for five priority medical procedures in 2016 and compares them to data for the previous four years.
The institute found that 97 per cent of cancer patients received radiation therapy within the 28-day benchmark in 2016.
Overall it found wait times improved or held steady -- although it says there is some variation across provinces.
