It’s much faster to get hip or knee replacements if there’s a central waitlist: study – CBC

Eliminating prolonged wait times for joint replacement surgery possible, Ontario research suggests

May 20, 2025

Canadians who need a hip or knee replacement could get the surgery more quickly — without adding to health-care budgets or opening more operating rooms — if central waitlists were created, the author of a new study says.

The findings, published in Tuesday’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, suggest it’s significantly faster to add patients to a central list where they can see any surgeon in their area, compared to each surgeon having their own waitlists.

Right now in Ontario, a primary care provider, such as your family doctor, refers you to a surgeon or physiotherapist to decide whether surgery is needed. If it is, you’ll be put on one surgeon’s waiting list, which could be long or short.

Often, it’s a long wait — in Canada, only two-thirds of patients receive their hip replacement within the 26-week recommended standard, according to data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. For knee replacements, only 59 per cent are done within that time.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/hip-knee-replacement-waits-faster-1.7537443