Public policy think tank SecondStreet.org says hundreds of thousands of Canadians had their surgeries delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic..“When COVID emerged, governments postponed hundreds of thousands of non-COVID surgeries, procedures and consultations with specialists,” said SecondStreet.org President Colin Craig. .“Not only has that increased waiting lists, but it has also caused tremendous patient suffering, sometimes even resulting in death.”.The group has released freedom of information responses from across Canada with data on the number of surgeries, procedures and consultations with specialists postponed due to the pandemic..A policy brief by the organization indicated as COVID-19 emerged in Canada, governments across the country postponed thousands of “non-urgent” surgeries, diagnostic scans and consultations with specialists. .Governments argued that to “preserve capacity” in the system for COVID-19 patients and reduce the spread of the virus, they had to postpone surgeries..They also told the public they would not delay critical health procedures, as only non-priority cases would be affected. For example, they would delay hip operations but not critical heart operations..In April 2020, after six months of waiting for a heart defibrillator, Alberta patient Jerry Dunham had his surgery postponed due to COVID-19. Two months later, he passed away..Several cancer patients had their procedures postponed, including Sydney Loney, who described the fear and anxiety she felt as she wondered if her breast cancer spread throughout her body..Cam-Lorell Forster fought cervical and uterine cancer and was told it was treatable as they caught it early. However, after four months of waiting for surgery, COVID-19 emerged and put her surgery on hold. Her procedure was rescheduled for a much earlier date..In Ontario, the University Health Network suggested in May 2020, upwards of 35 patients passed away due to having their cardiac surgeries postponed..While nine provinces provided data showing 205,549 postponements, the Ontario government had “no records” on the subject..However, data from the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) estimated 148,364 postponed surgeries in the province..Ontario MPP Roman Baber estimates Ontario cancelled 184,000 surgeries and procedures from March to June last year..“The toll in human lives is incalculable,” said Baber, who remains concerned by the continuation of this practice..He called out Deputy Premier Christine Elliot for “refusing” to give him estimates..SecondStreet.org sent a follow-up request with Ontario’s Minister of Health’s office for data on surgeries and other procedures but did not receive a response..To mitigate Canada’s chronic waiting lists, SecondStreet.org recommends provincial governments hire private clinics to provide surgeries for patients in the public system..They also suggest lifting bans on private clinics charging patients for surgery to allow patients to choose between waiting for care in the public system or utilizing private options. .They argue these steps would alleviate pressure off the public system as some patients would choose to pay out-of-pocket. It would also help patients who cannot travel outside the country for health care due to COVID-19. .Provinces like Alberta — who had 16,893 surgeries postponed due to COVID-19 — have launched “aggressive expansion plans” to schedule additional surgeries on-top of the average pre-pandemic volume of 290,000 surgeries..It has announced 55,000 extra surgeries to try and eliminate the pandemic backlog..“We promised Albertans shorter wait times for surgery, and we’re going to deliver,” said Alberta’s Health Minister Tyler Shandro..“AHS, Covenant Health and chartered surgical facilities are already doing more surgeries in some areas. Going forward, we’re going to eliminate the backlog this year and press on toward the goal of the Alberta Surgical Initiative – to provide all scheduled surgeries within clinically acceptable times by 2023.”.Chartered surgical facilities began ramping up their surgical activity in December, especially cataract surgeries with the largest wait-lists. .As new and existing chartered surgical facilities begin working under contract with AHS this spring and throughout the year, they will complete about 90,000 surgeries each year by 2023, up from the more than 40,000 surgeries they currently perform in a year. .AHS will issue requests for additional capacity for ophthalmology and orthopedic surgical services in March and May, respectively..Dhaliwal is the Western Standard’s Edmonton reporter.
Public policy think tank SecondStreet.org says hundreds of thousands of Canadians had their surgeries delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic..“When COVID emerged, governments postponed hundreds of thousands of non-COVID surgeries, procedures and consultations with specialists,” said SecondStreet.org President Colin Craig. .“Not only has that increased waiting lists, but it has also caused tremendous patient suffering, sometimes even resulting in death.”.The group has released freedom of information responses from across Canada with data on the number of surgeries, procedures and consultations with specialists postponed due to the pandemic..A policy brief by the organization indicated as COVID-19 emerged in Canada, governments across the country postponed thousands of “non-urgent” surgeries, diagnostic scans and consultations with specialists. .Governments argued that to “preserve capacity” in the system for COVID-19 patients and reduce the spread of the virus, they had to postpone surgeries..They also told the public they would not delay critical health procedures, as only non-priority cases would be affected. For example, they would delay hip operations but not critical heart operations..In April 2020, after six months of waiting for a heart defibrillator, Alberta patient Jerry Dunham had his surgery postponed due to COVID-19. Two months later, he passed away..Several cancer patients had their procedures postponed, including Sydney Loney, who described the fear and anxiety she felt as she wondered if her breast cancer spread throughout her body..Cam-Lorell Forster fought cervical and uterine cancer and was told it was treatable as they caught it early. However, after four months of waiting for surgery, COVID-19 emerged and put her surgery on hold. Her procedure was rescheduled for a much earlier date..In Ontario, the University Health Network suggested in May 2020, upwards of 35 patients passed away due to having their cardiac surgeries postponed..While nine provinces provided data showing 205,549 postponements, the Ontario government had “no records” on the subject..However, data from the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) estimated 148,364 postponed surgeries in the province..Ontario MPP Roman Baber estimates Ontario cancelled 184,000 surgeries and procedures from March to June last year..“The toll in human lives is incalculable,” said Baber, who remains concerned by the continuation of this practice..He called out Deputy Premier Christine Elliot for “refusing” to give him estimates..SecondStreet.org sent a follow-up request with Ontario’s Minister of Health’s office for data on surgeries and other procedures but did not receive a response..To mitigate Canada’s chronic waiting lists, SecondStreet.org recommends provincial governments hire private clinics to provide surgeries for patients in the public system..They also suggest lifting bans on private clinics charging patients for surgery to allow patients to choose between waiting for care in the public system or utilizing private options. .They argue these steps would alleviate pressure off the public system as some patients would choose to pay out-of-pocket. It would also help patients who cannot travel outside the country for health care due to COVID-19. .Provinces like Alberta — who had 16,893 surgeries postponed due to COVID-19 — have launched “aggressive expansion plans” to schedule additional surgeries on-top of the average pre-pandemic volume of 290,000 surgeries..It has announced 55,000 extra surgeries to try and eliminate the pandemic backlog..“We promised Albertans shorter wait times for surgery, and we’re going to deliver,” said Alberta’s Health Minister Tyler Shandro..“AHS, Covenant Health and chartered surgical facilities are already doing more surgeries in some areas. Going forward, we’re going to eliminate the backlog this year and press on toward the goal of the Alberta Surgical Initiative – to provide all scheduled surgeries within clinically acceptable times by 2023.”.Chartered surgical facilities began ramping up their surgical activity in December, especially cataract surgeries with the largest wait-lists. .As new and existing chartered surgical facilities begin working under contract with AHS this spring and throughout the year, they will complete about 90,000 surgeries each year by 2023, up from the more than 40,000 surgeries they currently perform in a year. .AHS will issue requests for additional capacity for ophthalmology and orthopedic surgical services in March and May, respectively..Dhaliwal is the Western Standard’s Edmonton reporter.
