Canada's health care system was dealt another blow earlier this week, this time by the Fraser Institute.
A report issued Monday said average wait times for elective surgeries are the highest they've been since 1993. Wait times for referral to a specialist went up from 8.9 weeks in 2010 to 9.5 weeks in 2011, and the average time between a visit to a specialist and actual treatment went up from 9.3 to 9.5 weeks in the same time.
Patients in Ontario, which has the shortest total wait time for surgery in the entire country, would also have dealt with a small increase - 14 to 14.3 weeks in the past year.
While three months or more might seem a long time to have to wait for a surgical procedure, it's nothing for patients in PEI, who face wait times of almost 44 weeks.
This despite governments at all levels making health care wait times a priority - and especially wait times for surgery for specific ailments.
They've had some success in specific areas - the wait for cancer treatment is only four weeks - but obviously there's still a lot to be done.
The report's author says Canadians are still waiting too long to access necessary treatment, needlessly prolonging pain and suffering patients and families are forced to endure - all this despite increases in government health care spending.
Where is the money going?
If wait times are dependent on the number of health care practitioners involved, then it's obviously not going to them. Perhaps increases have gone to upper level bureaucrats and other officials who have little do to with front-line health care.
But whatever the reason, we the people shouldn't put up with it. Waiting almost a year for an elective procedure is nonsensical.
Instead of letting politicians dodge and weave their way out of real investigation and action, instead of letting them get away with being "committed to moving forward," we should demand meaningful action.
It's great that wait times for some procedures have decreased - now we need similar action across the health care field.