Province improves wait list web site

The province has a new wait time web site to assist patients waiting for elective surgery.

The information on the web site at www.health.gov.bc.ca/waitlist is designed to let patients search through 80 adult elective surgery groups performed at any public facility in the province which can be discussed with a family doctor to decide if there's faster treatment available.

Kevin Falcon, BC minister of health services, said the new web site "gives patients more control over their surgical options by letting them see and compare surgery wait times from every hospital across B.C."

The web site will also allow health officials to identify key areas that need to be improved, said Falcon who believes B.C. is the province leading the country in reducing surgery wait times

The old web site which only reported information from the larger facilities , but left out smaller, regional facilities.

The web site will be updated on a monthly basis using latest information submitted each night by hospitals to a new Surgical Patient Registry which is a provincial data base to gather the information

Reports prepared by the Surgical Patient Registry will flag wait lists that are getting longer as well as people who have waited the longest, or are in the greatest need.

The new website allows the public to search using a body image, a map of the province, or a drop-down menu to locate a facility that can meet their needs.

Developed by the B.C. health ministry, the new web site is meant to give patients access to safer, higher quality services and care providers correct and necessary information to manage their wait lists more efficiently.