I have been a volunteer with the Society for Protection and Care of Seniors for several years. I am always hearing about various government websites with health care details. Since one of my family members is now on a wait list for surgery, I decided to check out the internet for some details. I found the website with some help – I mistakenly typed in Interior Health Surgical Wait List instead of Provincial Surgical Wait List.
Once I found right search criteria, I easily found the site. I was amazed at the great information it contained and the ease of use. An outline of a body appears on the screen and a click on the body part takes you to a secondary screen.
The information can be viewed across the province, by area and even by specific doctor. These can all be switched around to be your primary search, as well. It is quite a useful tool and easy to understand. Sadly, the information I was looking at turned out to be almost a two-year wait! (The website is https://swt.hlth.gov.bc.ca/ if you would like to view it.)
Moving along, I decided to look at Infection Control – there have been a lot of concerns mentioned about this lately.
The site does contain a lot of information, but it is a little more difficult to understand – maybe not designed for non-health professionals. But – there are details there and it can be accessed, although the site does not have quite the same finesse as the Surgical Wait List.
Another service our group checks often is the wait time for MRI’s. Last reported wait time was in November/2015 – 60 weeks in Trail area, one of the longest wait times in IHA. The sad news – no details for MRI wait times are available on line that I could find. I believe the last number was supplied by Interior Health during a Connected Communities meeting.
A long, long time ago, I heard this was going to be accessible Provincial site on line. Until it is, perhaps this information could somehow be communicated on a more frequent basis. (Maybe an update header on the IHA home page?)
Theresa BuchnerFruitvale
