For the second-straight year, the Northern Health Authority has missed its provincially-imposed surgical waiting-time targets, designed as hospital incentives to provide better patient access to hip- and knee-replacement and cataract surgeries.
As a result, Northern Health was penalized $790,000, money that was withheld at the start of the 2010-11 fiscal year, which represents about 10 per cent of its $8 million budget for all surgical procedures.
The Ministry of Health wants hospitals to provide hip surgery to 90 per cent of their patients within 26 weeks of being ready to treat; knee surgery to 90 per cent of patients within 26 weeks; and cataract surgery to 90 per cent of patients within 16 weeks, with no cataract wait times of longer than one year.
Northern Health accommodated 65 per cent of patients awaiting hip replacement surgery within 26 weeks; operated on 49 per cent of the knee-replacement surgical list within 26 weeks; and performed cataract surgery on 53 per cent of patients within 16 weeks.
"The holdbacks are an area of focus for Northern Heath and we will strive to meet the targets set by government," said Northern Health spokesperson Jessica Quinn.
"Northern Health is working towards improving access and shortening wait lists wherever we can and our wait lists are typically are affected by changing trends in demographics. Where you have an older population that needs specific surgery, that would affect it.
"In general, the overall wait list for surgeries has dropped over the last two years at UHNBC. We continue to make improvements and are working with physicians to continue to do that."
Two of the province's health authorities -- Vancouver Coastal and Vancouver Island -- met their surgical goals and received their target funding. Interior Health suffered the heaviest penalty for missing its targets, losing $3.4 million, while Fraser Health lost $2.8 million.
The surgical incentive bonus program was introduced in 2009-10. In 2010-11 the province paid health authorities $12.2 million of the $19.2 million budgeted. Health ministry spokesperson Ryan Jabs said the remaining $7 million was tuned over to the province's general revenue fund.
"None of the health authorities were in deficits last year, so it didn't take away from any other procedures that they were able to manage in their budget," said Jabs.
"Wait-time holdbacks encourage health authorities to increase volumes for these procedures. They also encourage health authorities to work with their physicians to help them better manage their wait lists and provide surgeries to patients who have been waiting longest. These strategies clearly tie funding to results for patients and holds health authorities accountable for how they spend money from their global budgets.
"Despite record funding, health care costs continue to grow, and we simply cannot keep increasing spending at this pace. That is why the Ministry of Health is working hard to encourage health authorities to work more efficiently and get the best value for the taxpayer dollars they spend."
Since 2001, Jabs said the province has increased the annual number of knee replacements from 2,922 to 6,550, hip replacements from 2,892 to 4,693, and cataract surgeries from 31,215 to 47,659.
