Wait times for psychiatric care in Ontario

Abstract

Mental illness is a prevalent and costly health care issue. Lengthy wait times for psychiatric services in Ontario are a barrier to adequate mental health care for adults, children and youth. The objective of this paper is to highlight the current state of psychiatric wait times in Ontario by looking at provincial policies and comparing data to physical health services, as well as between provinces and other developed nations. The Ontario government has successfully implemented mandatory reporting of wait-time data for many medical and surgical services. However, such policies have yet to be implemented for psychiatric services. As a result, availability of current data for comparison is limited. Nova Scotia is currently the only province to government mandate reporting of wait times for mental health. Furthermore, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranks Canada below average on measures related to accessibility of psychiatric inpatient services compared to other developed nations. While Ontario has implemented new initiatives to address the issue of timely mental health care, there is still insufficient evidence to determine if they are effective. Continued advocacy for mandatory wait-time reporting at the provincial level and further analysis of current initiatives worldwide are essential steps toward reducing wait times.