Long waits for colonoscopy
Posted Apr 23, 2011 7:26 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Many Calgarians are waiting a long time for a colonoscopy.
In one case, a 57-year-old woman tells The Calgary Herald she’s been waiting for the test since October of 2008 despite reporting a possible symptom of colon cancer to her doctor.
Healthy Calgarians, or those with no symptoms, face waits of up to three years for a colonoscopy to screen for the disease. The test recommended for anyone over the age of 50.
Quicker testing, sometimes in as little as a few weeks, is only available to those determined to be at high risk after testing or through a family history of colon cancer or colorectal cancer.
Anyone else can wait between 18 months and three years.
A spokesman with Alberta Health Services tells the Herald, we can expect the wait times to be addressed in the AHS upcoming budget.
