Radiology wait times expected to improve, says Health PEI
Some patients have waited up to seven months for non-urgent appointments
Health PEI says wait times for radiology appointments are expected to improve soon.
The Chief Administrative Officer for Health PEI said some people have been waiting for up to seven months for some so-called non-urgent appointments.
"I think for the specialized services — CT, MRI and ultrasound — those are typically longer … than we would like them to be," said Jamie MacDonald.
MacDonald said the longer wait times have been a problem for about six months now.
She said there is a shortage in the ultrasound department because of two maternity leaves, and the province is also short two radiologists.
Urgent cases are seen quickly but Health PEI is not meeting national standard wait times for non-urgent cases.
More staff coming
Despite the current waits, MacDonald said she is feeling optimistic.
"Our wait times have been driven up but we do have good news on the horizon," she said.
MacDonald said staff on maternity leaves are expected to return in the fall, and two radiologists have been hired for around the same time.
"One early September is coming, one early October," said MacDonald.
MacDonald said she can understand if people are frustrated with waiting for appointments but she does expect wait times to improve.
"It is frustrating, we recognize that, it's not where we want to be, but hang in there."
Evening hours available
MacDonald said locums have been hired for the summer, and evening hours have been added to reduce some of the backlog of appointments.
She said hours will be extended into the evening until abut 7 p.m. and there will also be occasional Saturday appointments.
"They're going to be supporting that extended service until we have our new radiologists up and running in the fall."