Biopsy waits too long in Saskatchewan: provincial auditor
Waits for biopsy results in Saskatchewan are taking too long according to the provincial auditor who said delays in diagnosis can impact a person’s chance of survival.
In her latest report, Judy Ferguson states that patients in Saskatoon wait an average of 12.1 days for results, in Regina, it increases to 18.7 days.
According to best practices in healthcare, the wait for those results should only be five business days and more complex cases should be six to nine days.
The two labs analyze about 45,000 cases a year. A surgical biopsy removes tissue for analysis to help healthcare providers diagnose health problems that patients face including whether a patient has cancer.