17,000 Canadian children wait longer to get their surgeries done

17,000 Canadian children wait longer to get their surgeries doneA consortium of Canadian medical specialty societies has said that more than 17,000 Canadian children waited longer to have surgery last year than doctors recommended.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has reported that the Wait Time Alliance published its fifth yearly report card on the amount of time patients must wait for surgeries, and this year, for the first time, the results include information on pediatric surgery from 15 children's hospitals across Canada.

Dr. Lorne Bellan, Wait Time Alliance co-chair, said that approximately 73 per cent of children had their surgeries within the recommended time period, scoring a grade of B, but the development of the 17,000 who had to wait longer is jeopardized.

The CBC further said that the children who waited longest were those with wandering eye, cleft lip and cleft palate.

The report read, "Since physical development in young children and youth occurs very quickly, especially in the early years, delaying surgery could have a lifelong impact on these young patients and their families. For example, delay in correcting wandering eye in children jeopardizes their chances of retrieving normal vision and the associated benefits in quality of life. Similarly, cleft lip and/or palate surgery must be performed at specific times to ensure optimal speech and brain development."

It has also been reported that the group gave a grade of D for ophthalmology and dentistry wait times, which means 50 per cent of patients waited a longer period than recommended. (With Inputs from Agencies)