Frustrated with Ontario Wait Times !!

I was cleared on June 10^th for Roux en Y surgery. I called my surgeons office to request a surgery date and I was told to come in and see the surgeon on July 10^th to get a date but the receptionist warned me that there was a 7 to 8 month wait for the surgery. This is ridiculous, I have a laundry list of co-morbidities that could be improved or cured from this surgery and after waiting almost a year to get to this point I am told to wait another 7+ months. I realize this is not the Surgeons fault but rather an issue of supply and demand not being dealt with by our health care system.  Clearly there is not enough surgeons who can perform this surgery or there isn’t enough facilities where the surgery can be performed or they don’t have a clear process in place to make sure that supply and demand is being addressed to enable patients to receive this surgery in a reasonable amount of time.  If you are unhappy with the wait times for this surgery please join me in making our voices heard by lodging a complaint about the wait times for this process at http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/Make-a-Complaint/Complaint-Submission.aspx

Hey ,

I hear your frustration :( It really does feel long and to be then told another lengthy wait is in store it is disheartening for sure . May I ask which hospital you are seeing your surgeon out of ? From what I read ,there are major differences in wait times from hospital to hospital . I am out of Humber River , and so far my timeline hasnt been too bad , but of course im not at the end yet where I get my date ! Could be ages more :( ....The co-morbidities thing is hard , I dont know about you but I feel sometimes like im holding my breath waiting for this all to go away , I know I should be living normally and trying my best at changing my ways while I wait (which I am really )...but the back of my mind I keep thinking , just hang on and hopefully all this will be done with soon !! Its tough , but we have to hang in there , and the thing about time , as we all know too well , is that it goes by so fast ! Our turn will be here before we know it x 

Take care and keep plodding on :)) 

Hi Jaxie, my surgeon is Dr. Huyn out of Humber River. I totally hear you about holding your breath and waiting for it to all go away. I understood there would be a bit of a waiting period during the first stage so that we can educate ourselves about he massive changes that we will go through and I am cool with that. I have literally spent hundreds of hours researching and educating myself about this process along with making massive lifestyle changes to help ensure my success but when I was cleared for surgery with flying colours I expected that I would be on the table within a couple of months.....wrong!! arghhhhh  Now it's like starting all over again. I don't see how they think its safe to move ahead with the surgery 7 months from now using test results from now  i.e. the results from all the blood work done 2 months ago could be totally different 7 months from now...thats a nine month spread between initial blood work and surgery.  Good luck with your journey Jaxie...!!

OH don't worry they will do more bloodwork closer to surgery, My journey was 8 months with humber. The wait time they are giving you is an approximate. I work in health care and we are all on hold pending today's election. With the LHIN's they only want certain surgeons/hospitals getting the funding. I would be calling the surgeons office weekly to see if he had cancellations to move up the appt in july and then go on the cancellation list for the surgery. it has worked in others favor. I just stayed the route that I was given as my hubby works shifts and my son has autism. controlled events work better in my household. Not fair I know, but just hang in there. I feel your frustration

I understand your position but I think the wait is important. This is a very big choice and I think they want you to have time to do a lot of thinking and make sure it is the right decision for you. I have been waiting 18 months and I haven't seen a SW, RD, or a RN yet. Ontario is actually not that long compared to some provinces, some wait up to 8 years. I think all good things are worth waiting for and I just keep my eye on the prize. Hope all works out well for you on this journey.

Take Care

Lisa

I totally agree that the wait is important and should be used to prepare yourself for such a big change, which i have have done over the last 10 months since my referral went in and over the year prior to that to determine if I even wanted to proceed with the referral. I have spend hundreds of hours preparing and educating myself as well as making massive lifestyle changes and am ready to go. I believe the first stage of the process, which has taken me 10 months, should be the education period, but once you have been cleared from a physical and psychiatric stand point you should be processed and moved to surgery as quickly as possible. As I said, I don't believe the wait time we incur after we are cleared is a strategic process put in place to make sure we are prepared but rather the result of a health care system that is overloaded and not well managed. I also have spent many years working in the health care system and the amount of bureaucracy and red tape is disheartening. Just my opinion. 

Use the wait as a time to focus on your eating issues and to change your habits.  You'll have the rest of your life to deal with and the change can be hard.  Many people fail at this. Continue to research and gather tools that you need. 

In New Brunswick, I have a friend on the list there for surgery. It's a 10-12 year wait. 

There are thousands and thousands waiting for this surgery. We all have to wait our turns some longer than others. But the nice thing is that OHIP covers this surgery for us and it costs us nothing. Many people who do not want to wait cross the border and pay out of pocket, that may be an option for you if you don't want to wait. From the time I requested a referral to my doctor it was 2 years in the works.. yes the waiting is frustrating but not a surprise. Everyone has their reasons for wanting this surgery, Mine was to live longer, get out of pain ect ect... and well worth the wait. 

I agree, there are thousands and thousands waiting for this surgery which goes directly to my comment that this is a problem of supply and demand not being properly managed.  However I don’t agree that we get it free, far from it.   As Canadians we are so polite and happy to sit and wait through unreasonable wait times and chalk it up to the fact that OHIP covers it. OHIP only exists because of the massive amounts of taxes that we pay into it. We shouldn’t forget that OHIP is simply an insurance company, run by the government that collects our premiums on a regular basis.  Because of this I believe we all have the right to push the system in the hopes of improving it. If we just sit back and accept the status quo nothing will improve and our taxes will continue to be squandered instead of being put to good use reducing wait times for all health care applications.

There is really no sense in complaining it is what it is, we all know or knew there is sometimes long wait times, your turn will come. If people continue to push the system it may ruin it for others in the future. I do not consider my taxes squandered on OHIP as it has saved my life with this surgery and many others,in fact  any surgery . With the huge population amount, I think Ontario is doing very well.