Psychiatric Care
Wait Time Benchmarks for Psychiatric Illness
| Procedure | Emergency cases* | Urgent cases* | Scheduled cases* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access to family practitioner | |||
| Acute or urgent mental health concerns | As deemed appropriate after triage | Within 24 hours | Within 1 week |
| Access to psychiatrist after referral by family physician | |||
| First episode psychosis | Within 24 hours | Within 1 week | Within 2 weeks |
| Mania | Within 24 hours | Within 1 week | Not generally applicable |
| Hypomania, with previous diagnosis of mania | Not generally applicable | Within 2 weeks | Within 4 weeks |
| Postpartum severe mood disorder or psychosis | Within 24 hours | Within 1 week | Within 4 weeks |
| Major depression | Within 24 hours | Within 2 weeks | Within 4 weeks |
| “Diagnostic and management consultation (including consultations for child and geriatric conditions not otherwise noted above)” | Within 24 hours | Within 2 weeks | Within 4 weeks |
*Priority or urgency levels are defined as follows:
- Emergency = immediate danger to life, limb or organ;
- Urgent = Situation that is unstable and has the potential to deteriorate quickly and result in an emergency admission;
- Scheduled = Situation involving minimal pain, dysfunction or disability (also called “routine” or “elective”).
Time refers to calendar days between decision by the family physician to refer to a psychiatrist and the day the psychiatrist sees the patient.
Related Items
Canadian Psychiatric Association Position Paper “Wait Time Benchmarks for Patients with Serious Psychiatric Illnesses” (2006)