Fewer Manitobans who need hip and knee replacements are getting them in a timely fashion.

A Canadian Institute for Health Information report released today shows, in 2014, 71 per cent of Manitobans needing knee or hip replacements got them within the benchmark; in 2017, the number was 53 per cent for hip replacements and 43 per cent for knee replacements. Canada-wide, in 2017, 76 per cent of hip replacement patients and 69 per cent of knee replacement patients received their treatment within the benchmark time period.

When it comes to radiation therapy and hip fracture repairs, Manitoba is doing better than the nation as a whole. However, Manitoba is well below the national number for cataract surgeries. The CIHI report says, in Canada, 71 per cent of cataract surgery patients received their treatment within the benchmark time period in 2017. In Manitoba, that number was 32 per cent.

In a release, CIHI says Canadians as a whole are waiting longer for joint replacements and cataract surgeries than they were three years ago, while doctors are performing more of these procedures. CIHI says wait times for more urgent procedures like hip fracture repairs and radiation therapy have remained stable. CIHI says the country's aging population may be influencing a rising need for cataract and joint surgeries; improvements in surgical practice, procedures, and devices also expand the amount of people eligible for surgery; the number of procedures performed may be influenced by available resources and surgeons, and incentives.

Health minister Kelvin Goertzen says in a press release the report validates the work already done with the Wait Times Reduction Task Force report.