• What is a wait list?
• What is a wait time?
• Why do we have wait times?
• What is a reasonable wait time?
• Who goes on a wait list?
• How long will I wait?
• If I have a long wait time, what can I do?
• Do better doctors have longer wait lists?

A wait list is a list of people who need special medical care, such as :

• heart surgery
• special tests such as MRIs
• hip and knee replacements

This list lets doctors decide who gets treatment first. Patients whose illness is more serious or life threatening, get treated first.

Note : Ontario does not have one wait list for all patients. Each doctor keeps a list of patients needing treatment.

A wait time is the amount of time you have to wait for a procedure. Your wait is measured from the time your procedure is booked until the time you receive it. If you need several procedures for your condition, each one can have its own wait time.

Wait times happen because :

• There may be more patients than the system can treat at the same time.
• Our population is aging and needs more health care.
• Doctors find new ways to diagnose and treat more illnesses. Many people may want to get this new treatment at the same time.

Wait times depend on the type of procedure and the patient’s situation. Ontario has developed wait times targets. These give you an idea of how long you might have to wait for a treatment.

Anyone who needs a treatment is placed on a wait list, unless it’s an emergency. Emergency patients are treated as quickly as possible.

How long you have to wait depends on :

• how serious your illness is. Patients with illnesses that are not considered life threatening may wait longer. That’s because the hospital's operating room will be used for more serious cases first.
• how many other patients your surgeon has to treat. Some specialists have shorter wait times than others.
• how your hospital schedules patient treatment. This depends on the staff, equipment and patient facilities they have.
• how many other people in your community need treatment.

Learn more about the wait times for hospitals in your area.

• You can ask to see another specialist, with a shorter wait list.
• You can ask to go to another hospital, where you might be treated sooner.
• You might be able to have a treatment on short notice, if an opening becomes available.

Your doctor can talk to you about these options.

If your condition changes while you are waiting for treatment, talk to your doctor. Your doctor can assess your illness and decide if waiting for treatment will affect your health.

All surgeons meet Ontario’s standards of training and ability, when they are licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and when they are granted privileges at a hospital. There is no way to tell whether one doctor is better than another.

Some surgeons may have longer wait times because :

• they get more referrals from family doctors
• they have less operating room time
• they take longer to perform a particular procedure
• they may have more complex cases to treat

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