It's about time!

Although the WTA received developed a Wait-Time Code that sets out the rights and overwhelming support for the use of wait-time bench- responsibilities of patients and citizens, providers and marks from patients and the public, these groups governments regarding the effective use of wait-time remain skeptical about the system’s ability to deliver on benchmarks. [...] The WTA released its interim report, No More Time The Wait Time Alliance includes the following national to Wait: Toward Benchmarks and Best Practices in Wait specialty societies: the Canadian Association of Time Management, on 3 April 2005.3 The report present- Radiologists; the Canadian Association of Nuclear ed a set of provisional wait-time benchmarks in 5 areas: Medicine; the Canadian Associa [...] Public feedback on the interim For each of the 5 priority areas, the alliance has set out report has indicated a high level of support for the WTA’s to: work in setting wait-time benchmarks, both to improve access to care and to provide greater system transparency • Provide a medical perspective on the development and accountability. [...] It’s about time! 7 The final report has 5 main objectives: ment, the WTA believes it is important to maintain the • To report on the feedback received from patients, the commitment to “benchmark.” However, to clarify and sim- public and other health care stakeholders on the inter- plify what it means, the WTA offers an operational defini- im report and the proposed wait-time benchmarks or tion of [...] But patients are also apprehen- It must be clear that the establishment of benchmarks is sive about the lack of certainty that often exists regarding not the end point of the work; in fact it is merely the the length of their wait.