The Saskatchewan government says a surgical initiative it launched one year ago has slashed wait times.
The number of patients waiting more than 18 months for surgery dropped 57 per cent to just over 900.
Meanwhile, the number of patients waiting more than 12 months fell 37 per cent to slightly less than 1,500.
As of March 31, a total of 24,366 patients are waiting for surgery in the province. About three per cent of those people have waited longer than 18 months.
The province says the surgical wait list in Saskatchewan is the shortest it's been since the government began tracking the data in 2004.
The Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative was created as part of the recommendations of a government-commissioned "patient first" review in 2009. It aims to cut surgical wait times to three months or less by 2014.
In the second year of the initiative, the province has set a goal of reducing wait times to 12 months or less.
Changes under the initiative include:
• An online specialist directory to help physicians and patients choose the most appropriate surgeon
• Patient "pathways" that streamline care for patients with hip, knee or spine problems, and those with prostate or gynaecological cancer
• Quality improvement programs
• Expansion of the province's electronic surgical information system in hospitals, which co-ordinates supplies, staff and scheduling for surgeries
• Third-party delivery of selected day surgeries and Computed Tomography (CT) services
• Funding for increased surgical capacity in regional hospitals
• Implementation of surgical safety checklists in operating rooms
• Training programs for additional operating room nurses
• Enhanced home care and post-operative rehabilitation services
• Efforts to improve children's oral health
