Nova Scotians face over 500-day waits for hip and knee surgery consultations

Bruce Erskine, a 75-year-old Halifax resident, has been waiting more than 500 days for a hip-replacement consultation since his referral in January 2025, and his mobility has sharply declined. Monika Lalonde, 77, from Falmouth, faces a similar delay and has yet to secure an appointment. Although a June report from the Canadian Institute for Health one outlet's shows record-short surgery-to-operation intervals, it does not capture the lengthy referral-to-consultation period, which now pushes total wait times beyond 2015 levels.

Median hip-replacement consultation waits have risen from 92 to 189 days over ten years, offsetting gains in surgical scheduling. Orthopedic surgeon Jhase Sniderman warns that extended immobilization harms muscle and cardiovascular health. Cathy Lynn Howley of the Nova Scotia Health perioperative care network says the province must address consultation bottlenecks, noting that a centralized booking system and new assessment clinics are being explored, though no concrete plan has been disclosed.