{
  "id": "emergency-wait",
  "category": "Health care access",
  "title": "Emergency department wait to see a doctor, Victoria hospitals",
  "geography": "Royal Jubilee, Victoria General and Saanich Peninsula hospitals (emergency departments), compared with Island Health, British Columbia and Canada",
  "scope": "region",
  "levels": [
    "Provincial (Island Health)"
  ],
  "plain_question": "In a hospital emergency department, how long until 9 in 10 patients have been seen by a doctor?",
  "value": 7.3,
  "display_value": "7.3",
  "unit": "hours: 9 in 10 patients saw a doctor within this time (Royal Jubilee)",
  "period": "Fiscal year 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026)",
  "period_start": "2025-04-01",
  "period_end": "2026-03-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "Fiscal year 2024/25",
    "previous_value": 7.4,
    "change_percent": -1.4
  },
  "since_text": "9 in 10 patients at Royal Jubilee saw a doctor within 7.3 hours. Victoria General: 8.4 hours. B.C.: 4.8. Canada: 5.3.",
  "trend": "roughly_flat",
  "trend_basis": "Royal Jubilee: 7.3 hours in 2025/26, 7.4 in 2024/25. CIHI’s own reading of the hospital for 2025/26: performance trend “Weakening”, compared with other hospitals “Below average performance”.",
  "direction_good": "down",
  "right_direction": "A shorter time is better: it means patients see a doctor sooner after they arrive.",
  "caveats": [
    "This is the 90th percentile: 9 in 10 patients saw a doctor (the first physician assessment) within this time, and 1 in 10 waited longer. It is not the typical wait.",
    "The time runs from triage or registration, whichever comes first, to the first assessment by a doctor, as CIHI defines it.",
    "CIHI marks British Columbia as “Partial data coverage” for 2025/26: not every B.C. emergency department reports. The three Victoria hospitals are reported individually.",
    "These are fiscal years (April to March). CIHI releases the table once a year.",
    "This is national health data from CIHI, an independent body that governments set up and fund. Hospitals report to it."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Victoria emergency departments: hours until 9 in 10 patients saw a doctor",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "hours",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Royal Jubilee Hospital",
          "area": "vichosp",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2021/22",
              "value": 3.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2022/23",
              "value": 4.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2023/24",
              "value": 5.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2024/25",
              "value": 7.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2025/26",
              "value": 7.3
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Victoria General Hospital",
          "area": "vichosp",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2021/22",
              "value": 4.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2022/23",
              "value": 5.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2023/24",
              "value": 6.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2024/25",
              "value": 9.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2025/26",
              "value": 8.4
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Saanich Peninsula Hospital",
          "area": "vichosp",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2021/22",
              "value": 2.8
            },
            {
              "period": "2022/23",
              "value": 2.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2023/24",
              "value": 3.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2024/25",
              "value": 3.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2025/26",
              "value": 3.8
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Royal Jubilee compared with Island Health, B.C. and Canada",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "hours",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Royal Jubilee Hospital",
          "area": "vichosp",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2021/22",
              "value": 3.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2022/23",
              "value": 4.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2023/24",
              "value": 5.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2024/25",
              "value": 7.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2025/26",
              "value": 7.3
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Island Health (all hospitals reporting)",
          "area": "island",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2021/22",
              "value": 3.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2022/23",
              "value": 3.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2023/24",
              "value": 4.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2024/25",
              "value": 5.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2025/26",
              "value": 5.6
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "British Columbia",
          "area": "bc",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2021/22",
              "value": 3.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2022/23",
              "value": 4.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2023/24",
              "value": 4.3
            },
            {
              "period": "2024/25",
              "value": 5.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2025/26",
              "value": 4.8
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Canada",
          "area": "canada",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2021/22",
              "value": 4.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2022/23",
              "value": 5.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2023/24",
              "value": 5.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2024/25",
              "value": 5.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2025/26",
              "value": 5.3
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2021/22",
      "value": 3.5
    },
    {
      "period": "2022/23",
      "value": 4.4
    },
    {
      "period": "2023/24",
      "value": 5.6
    },
    {
      "period": "2024/25",
      "value": 7.4
    },
    {
      "period": "2025/26",
      "value": 7.3
    }
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Emergency Department Wait Time for Physician Initial Assessment (data table)",
    "url": "https://www.cihi.ca/en/indicators/indicator-811",
    "dataset_url": "https://www.cihi.ca/sites/default/files/document/data-file/811-emergency-department-wait-time-for-physician-initial-assessment-data-table-en.xlsx",
    "download_url": "https://www.cihi.ca/sites/default/files/document/data-file/811-emergency-department-wait-time-for-physician-initial-assessment-data-table-en.xlsx",
    "locator": "CIHI data table 811, sheet “Table 1”, reporting level Facility, Royal Jubilee Hospital (B.C.), fiscal year 2025–2026, column “90th percentile”",
    "reads": "Royal Jubilee Hospital (B.C.), 2025–2026, 90th percentile: 7.3"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution.",
    "url": "https://www.cihi.ca/en/terms-of-use",
    "open": false,
    "note": "CIHI’s terms allow use for education and non-commercial purposes with credit to CIHI. This site is non-commercial."
  },
  "verified_text": [
    "Royal Jubilee Hospital (B.C.) | Facility | Fiscal year | 2025–2026 | 90th percentile 7.3",
    "Victoria General Hospital (B.C.) | Facility | Fiscal year | 2025–2026 | 90th percentile 8.4",
    "Saanich Peninsula Hospital (B.C.) | Facility | Fiscal year | 2025–2026 | 90th percentile 3.8",
    "British Columbia | Province/territory | Fiscal year | 2025–2026 | 90th percentile 4.8",
    "Canada | National | Fiscal year | 2025–2026 | 90th percentile 5.3"
  ],
  "attribution": "Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information. Used under CIHI’s terms of use; not endorsed by CIHI.",
  "refresh_frequency": "Annually (CIHI data table)",
  "data_published": "2026-09-21",
  "data_published_basis": "creation date printed in the file",
  "cihi_reading": {
    "Royal Jubilee Hospital (B.C.)": {
      "Performance trend": "Weakening",
      "Performance comparison": "Below average performance",
      "Data coverage": "–"
    },
    "Victoria General Hospital (B.C.)": {
      "Performance trend": "Weakening",
      "Performance comparison": "Below average performance",
      "Data coverage": "–"
    },
    "Saanich Peninsula Hospital (B.C.)": {
      "Performance trend": "Weakening",
      "Performance comparison": "Above average performance",
      "Data coverage": "–"
    },
    "Island Health (B.C.)": {
      "Performance trend": "Weakening",
      "Performance comparison": "Below average performance",
      "Data coverage": "Partial data coverage"
    },
    "British Columbia": {
      "Performance trend": "–",
      "Performance comparison": "–",
      "Data coverage": "Partial data coverage"
    },
    "Canada": {
      "Performance trend": "–",
      "Performance comparison": "–",
      "Data coverage": "–"
    }
  },
  "source_tier": 2,
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-12T03:09:32Z",
  "licence_type": "public",
  "measure_kind": "service result",
  "better_measure": null,
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "The change is 1.4% of the earlier value, below the 5% threshold.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "Fiscal year 2024/25",
      "value": 7.4,
      "text": "vs 2024/25: -1.4%"
    },
    "five_year": null
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "outcome",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "same",
    "label": "About the same this year. Worse over 4 years.",
    "arrow": "▼",
    "rel": -1.4,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "Fiscal year 2024/25",
    "cur": "Fiscal year 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026)",
    "why": "The change is 1.4% of the earlier value, below the 5% threshold. Over 4 years (since 2021/22) the change is 108.6% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold, so the label also says Worse over 4 years.",
    "change": "1.4%",
    "one_year": "−1.4%",
    "five": {
      "period": "2021/22",
      "comparable": true,
      "rel": 108.57142857142857,
      "years": 4,
      "longest": true,
      "text": "+109%"
    },
    "label_one_year": "About the same",
    "long_key": "worse",
    "long_label": "Worse over 4 years",
    "agency_reading": {
      "agency": "CIHI trend",
      "reading": "Weakening",
      "of": "Royal Jubilee Hospital"
    }
  },
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Sets provincial standards for health services and appoints Island Health’s board.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "haa3",
          "label": "Health Authorities Act, s. 3",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96180_01#section3"
        },
        {
          "key": "haa4",
          "label": "Health Authorities Act, s. 4",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96180_01#section4"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "IH",
      "name": "Island Health",
      "decides": "Plans and runs health services in the region: which services, which facilities and the programs that deliver them.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "haa5",
          "label": "Health Authorities Act, s. 5",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96180_01#section5"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "CAN",
      "name": "Government of Canada and Parliament",
      "decides": "Pays the Canada Health Transfer to the Province, on the conditions set in the Canada Health Act.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "fpfaa",
          "label": "Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, Part V.1",
          "url": "https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-8/FullText.html"
        },
        {
          "key": "cha",
          "label": "Canada Health Act, s. 5 and 7",
          "url": "https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-6/FullText.html"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "Province of B.C."
}