The London Health Sciences Centre is taking the guesswork out of how long someone heading to its emergency departments will have to wait to be seen by a doctor.
The hospital has launched a webpage dedicated to reporting current wait times in the emergency rooms at Victoria, University, and Children’s hospitals. The real-time estimates of the time an individual will wait to be seen are updated every 30 minutes.
“The new webpages are a welcome addition to our emergency department toolbox, and I am pleased we were able to launch it in a very short time,” said LHSC President and CEO Jackie Schleifer. “We understand it’s not the sole solution to the wait times issues we and other hospitals face right now but it will give us valuable insight into how we can improve.”
In the past, the LHSC has only notified the public about current wait times when they have been extremely long, such as in October when adult non-urgent patients had to wait upwards of 20 hours.
The emergency department wait times page for Victoria and University hospitals went live nearly a month ago, while the dedicated page for Children’s came online Wednesday. Hospital officials have said the goal is to provide the most accurate information to potential patients and their families so they can better prepare for their visit. That includes knowing whether they will need to bring medications, a phone charger, drink, snack or make arrangements for child-care in the event of a lengthy wait.
Over the next couple of weeks, the pages will be updated to also include information on how the LHSC manages its ERs and prioritizes emergency health issues. It is believed including those pieces will help people seeking treatment understand why they may be waiting longer than usual to see a physician.
“We are continuously finding ways to be open and transparent with the public about how LHSC delivers healthcare,” added
Schleifer.
We have launched our Emergency Department Wait Times webpage which provides real-time estimates of the time an individual may have to wait to be seen by a physician.
For serious medical injuries and conditions, do not delay seeking care.
Learn more: https://t.co/nuSp7xUPaI pic.twitter.com/lANqcaG8IX
— London Health Sciences Centre (@LHSCCanada) December 21, 2022
