The taming of the queue

This report summarizes the presentations and addresses made to the Taming of the Queue V conference, as well as key points from the general discussion of the presentations. [...] Another theme involved the importance of looking beyond the “big five” procedures and of measuring and managing wait times throughout the continuum of care, not just from the time of specialist consult to treatment. [...] This related not only to ensuring that the capacity of the system is and will be adequate to meet current and anticipated demand, but also to the importance of actively managing human resource contingencies to minimize the need for bed closures. [...] Five Years Later,” began with a brief history of recent national efforts at reform of the health care system, including the Romanow and Kirby reports in 2002; the federal-provincial-territorial Accord of 2003, which led to the formation of the Health Council of Canada; and the First Ministers’ Health Accord of 2004. [...] The latter was more specific in giving priority to the reduction of wait times and led to the development in 2005 of wait time benchmarks in five priority areas – cancer, cardiac care, diagnostic imaging, joint replacement, and sight restoration – encouraged by a number of efforts including the work of the Wait Time Alliance.