Table 2. Observed changes in resource utilisation and inferred estimated additional waiting time over 2020–2021.
| Screening | Diagnoses | Treatmenta | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Procedures / diagnosesb | Patients experiencing additional waitc | Surgeries | Radiotherapies | Chemotherapies | Overall | Patients experiencing additional waitc | |||
| Australia | 2020 | -6.3% | -11.7% | 16% | - | - | - | +0.1% | 1.1% |
| 2021 | -5.1% | -3.4% | 29% | - | - | - | -7.2% | 24% | |
| Canada | 2020 | -40% | -10.2% | 32% | -5.1% | 1.5% | 3.9% | - | 4% |
| 2021 | 0%d | -0.5% | 20% | 2.4% | 21.5% | 14.7% | - | 15% | |
a Treatment was split by type in Canada only—boxes marked “-” were not stratified in the relevant setting. Overall treatment utilization was used in Australia. Yearly total including both increases and decreases to claims over the relevant period on a month-by-month basis.
b Change in diagnostic procedures in Australia (including those with a negative result); change in diagnoses in Canada. Yearly total including both increases and decreases to claims over the relevant period on a month-by-month basis
c Estimated proportion of patients at diagnosis/treatment who waited at least two weeks longer than expected (pre-pandemic) waiting times.
d No decrease in screening was recorded or modelled for Canada in 2021