Health committee  The trends are not clear in all cases. The data are not comparable in all cases, but we see some cases where they are starting to be comparable, and we see some areas of improvement in our own data. We're not shy about where we think the data are comparable. There are other cases where it's still too early to tell, and still other cases where we see no improvement yet.

Health committee  It's a challenging question to ask overall. The data lend themselves to some aspects of it. For a number of years now, we have routinely indicated readmission rates for certain procedures—stroke and cardiac, for example. In a recent analysis we looked at readmission rates for hip and knee replacements, so we can see what the circumstances are in these cases.

Health committee  In general, we gather information, validate it, and put it out for others to use. We do this for committees such as this, for similar committees in the provinces, hospitals, and professional associations, and for groups like the Wait Time Alliance. Some of the sources they cite are from the data we have put out.

Health committee  First of all, I must say that the grades given in that document are not ours. They are attributed by the Wait Time Alliance.

Health committee  We make no judgments as to whether one province is better than another. We do not give out any A, B, C or Ds. You would have to ask the alliance what they base those marks on. The provinces have various strategies. One would emphasize one kind of surgery over another. The organization and concentrations of health care are different.

Health committee  Many organizations are studying wait lists as well as other aspects of the health care system, and they are giving samples. Many things could change in these sectors from one organization to the next, especially if they emphasize any one particular perspective. Therefore, the levels can vary according to the values and the choices that are made.

Health committee  Certainly we know this is an area of critical interest in terms of the health sector, and we do look at a number of these questions. We do not have perfect information about all the questions, as we would like, but we do have a number of points I can respond to in terms of the points you raised.

Health committee  I think it's clear that even within provinces there are disparities. We know from all the wait-time information, even if you measure median waits, that there are people who get in very quickly. The first 10% of people make it in quite quickly, and the last 10% of people may wait a long time.

Health committee  The only thing I would add is that we see the advantage of comparable data for looking at things such as outcomes, and for understanding what we are producing, and whether, if you measure one set of activities in the same way as others, you can then compare it with others. Some of those comparisons are what can lead us to understand outcomes.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  I think one of the lessons we've learned, as a country, in the last number of years is about the complexity of the relationship between doing additional volumes and the impact on waiting times and waiting lists. It is absolutely the case that we are doing additional volumes of scans, as well as surgeries, in the priority areas.

Health committee  We have data on physicians and nurses. And when I say “nurses”, I mean we have information on RNs, licensed practical nurses, as well as registered psychiatric nurses. We are expanding now. We've just begun databases in five new areas where we're collecting data: pharmacists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and we are developing databases for medical radiation technologists and lab technologists.

Health committee  Yes. Now a component of the nurse database is nurse practitioners.

Health committee  The starting points are different because different provinces chose different priorities. As I understand it, the choice of priorities in the most recent round of negotiations and money that was furnished for wait times is not something we've commented on specifically in our reports.

Health committee  Our role is to provide databases and information to contribute to the debate of those who manage the health care system and are making decisions for this sector. Therefore, for us this is important. We make no recommendations and we take no positions. We hope that the databases and information that we provide will be relevant.