A three-year wait for a preventive screening test

The complaint

A user who had been waiting three years for a colonoscopy prescribed by her physician complained about the time it was taking for the test to get done.

The investigation

• Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) representatives spent a week in the user’s region to look into surgery department logistics and make recommendations
• The health and social services centre put a great deal of effort into improving surgery department operation.
• Single-window access, managed by the head surgeon and the head of the department, was set up to ensure that there was only one waiting list.
• An efficient protocol for surgery department management was drafted and implemented and the number of visits from gastroenterologists was increased from 10 to 12 a year.
• General practitioners were reminded to prescribe fecal occult blood tests to determine whether a colonoscopy is required.
• The hospital has two operating rooms, but has funding for only one of them. The administration wants a budget increase from the MSSS. The hospital is also coping with other problems, including a shortage of nurses in the region
• Given the lengthy wait times, the user’s physician ordered a fecal occult blood. If the results are positive, the user will be given priority for a colonoscopy.

The Québec Ombudsman’s conclusions

Since the health and social services centre made adequate improvements, under the circumstances the Québec Ombudsman did not make any recommendations.