National Health standard-a step in the right direction

The new standard wait times
Provinces set benchmarks: new hip within 6 months, cardiac bypass in 2 weeks

Tom Blackwell, National PostPublished: Monday, December 12, 2005

Canada's first-ever national standards for medical wait times will suggest patients get radiation cancer treatment within four weeks, a hip replacement in no more than six months and a non-emergency cardiac bypass in as little as 14 days, health ministers are expected to announce today.
The unveiling of so-called wait-list benchmarks by provincial and territorial ministers is being called a "revolutionary" first step in curing the backlogs that have increasingly bedevilled health care.
But critics say the new standards, which are not binding and do not have to be implemented for at least two years, will be largely meaningless, and called for more drastic action to speed up care.