Saskatchewan residents are waiting longer to see medical specialists compared to many other Canadians — and the delays are having a significant effect on their daily lives, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
The 2024 Survey on Health Care Access and Experiences found that just over 30 per cent of Saskatchewan residents who saw a specialist waited less than one month for an initial consultation. That’s below the national average of 34.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, nearly 32 per cent of Saskatchewan patients waited one to three months, and close to 19 per cent waited three to six months. In total, about 37 per cent of patients in the province reported waiting more than three months, nearly on par with the national figure of 36 per cent.
Despite similar wait-time ranges, Saskatchewan patients appear to be more affected by those delays. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents in the province said their life was negatively impacted by the wait — the highest rate in the country. Nationally, 63.6 per cent of Canadians said delays in seeing a specialist affected their life.
In Saskatchewan, 48.5 per cent of people said they were satisfied with the length of time they waited — just below the national satisfaction rate of 49.4 per cent. Another 20.5 per cent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, while 31 per cent were dissatisfied.
The most commonly reported impacts of long wait times across Canada included increased stress or anxiety, worsening of symptoms, and difficulty performing daily tasks.
Nationally, wait times were shortest in Quebec, where 41.6 per cent of patients saw a specialist in under a month. In contrast, Newfoundland and Labrador saw the longest delays, with only 27.5 per cent of patients seen within that timeframe.
The survey results come as health systems across the country continue to face challenges with staffing shortages, specialist backlogs and increased demand following the pandemic.
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