Does anyone know why the delay at TWH has gotten so bad?

I've been looking at the spreadsheet where people enter in their dates (referral, orientation, surgery date, etc) and it seems like at TWH there was only an average wait of about 2 months from referral to orientation and only a total wait to sugery of 6-8 months up until August of 2010. But now, I am over 4.5 months from my referral and have been told by TWH not to expect to hear from them until May or June... why did this suddenly happen at a centre that was putting people through SO quickly before? Because of the nature of my work, it will be easiest for me to take time off in November and December for surgery and recovery and I'm starting to doubt that I'll get to surgery by November, 1 year from my initial referral! How much time is recommended for being away form work for recovery anyway? I figured anywhere from 2-6 weeks depending on how everything goes...?

 i think the quick times were an anomoly. A year to surgery from referral is pretty dang good. Many of us took longer to get there. 

The gov't fiscal year ends March 31st -its very possible the hospitals are just figuring out their funding / requirements and alloting it between all the various surgeons and specialties. They likely err on the side of longer rather than shorter when giving out time estimates. 

TWH has been also dealing with overflow from Ottawa which has added to the wait time.

AFAIK all the Ottawa referrals are being sent to HRRH, not TWH ?

I know that in the context of how many people are eligible and want this surgery vs. the current resources in Ontario that one year from referral to surgery ought to seem realistic, but to me it just seems unacceptable that people are foced to wait this long! A year for me might mean the difference of a diabetes diagnosis, and for others I'm sure the stakes are much higher. It's not right, not when all the necessary steps from referral to surgery can realistically be accomplished in 3 months if the resources were actually commited to this.

HI PatXYZ,
Do you know the phone number for checking on the status of your referral with TWH?
I must be calling the wrong number as no one ever returns my call.
Thanks,
TT

Hi Tory,

they never return my calls either!!! The best way to talk to them is to call until someone answers, rather than leave a message. I've had the best luck getting them early in the morning, right at 8:30am. I know they are working on referrals from Sept right now. When were you referred? I was referred Nov 11th and was told to watch for a letter in May.

I think they started using the registry in August but it wasn't mandatory until October for referrals. People that were referred to a different hospital not based on Postal Code were then redirected through the registry by their postal code to the closer hospital. Therefore people who had already been waiting for however long at another Hospital then got pushed to their new location and were top priority opposed to direct referrals or new referrals through the registry if that makes any sense at all.

If it helps I was referred July 26th 2010, had my orientation March 2nd 2011, and my nurse and social worker appointment March 29th... this is my process so far, hope this helps...

Thanks Kristina, when you had your NUT and SW appointments did they give you any idea how many months you might be from surgery?

I have yet to see the Nut, I had my nurse and social worker appointment on the 29th of March, the nurse said about another 3months. I have gotten more of a timeline now as I have the rest of my appointments booked up until the psych the next appointment is with the surgent after that.

Referral - July 26/2010
Orientation - March 2/2011
Social worker - March 29/2011
Nurse - March 29/2011
Nutrition class - April 27/2011
Nutrion Consult May 19/2011
Psycologist - May 26/2011

The next appointment to be booked after that is the Surgent as I said so the process is going fairly quickly now. I will most likely have my surgery within the year of my referral. That being said please remember I was not sent through the registry which is where things could get a bit tricky and the wait times and timelines could change. Perhaps when someone on here is sent through the registry October 2010 or later could perhaps post their timeline once they get called, might be more accurate to some.

The time away at work depending on your job is 4weeks, at least thats what I was told at Orientation. If your process goes much like mine you will probably be getting a date right around the time you want one...again thats if the registry referrals are running the same timeline as myself.