The national benchmark for hip replacement from booking time to the operating table is 281 days. In Nova Scotia, 90% of patients get hip replacement surgery within 231 days of booking at Cape Breton Regional Hospital. But at hospitals in the QEII Health Sciences Centre system in Halifax, that wait time jumps to 841 days. This is why the senior director of perioperative/surgical services at the health authority is overseeing a working group to standardize the assessment system for hip and knee replacement patients and create a single-entry point to replace the current regional system. The focus will be put on the individual patient’s health to determine the appropriateness of surgery. For this project, a new intake and initial assessment system will be implemented. It’ll see enhanced orthopedic assessment clinics and current wait times at particular hospitals posted on the health authority’s website.
NBHC News