LHSC reduces cancer surgery wait times by 50 per cent

LHSC reduces cancer surgery wait times London Health Sciences Centre says they reduced wait times for cancer patients by 50 per cent. CTV London's Gerry Dewan explains.

London Health Sciences Centre says it has reduced cancer surgery wait times by 50 per cent.

Through several focused strategies and a dedicated team effort, the organization said it has improved cancer surgery wait times over the past year for non-urgent and non-emergent patients.

“We know how hard it is for patients with cancer and their families to wait for surgery and we needed to do everything we could to improve our times,” said Head of Oncology, Dr. Michael Ott. “This involved finding new ways to maximize our current resources and improve efficiencies – like improving our referral systems, optimizing our data used in making decisions, and dedicating more operating room time for cancer surgeries.”

As of March 2024, 90 per cent of all oncology patients receive their surgery within the targeted wait time, according to the urgency of their diagnosis, according to LHSC.

“These improvements reflect our commitment to providing timely and efficient care to a growing number of patients across southwestern Ontario,” said Corporate Medical Executive, Dr. Kevin Chan.