Pandemic backlog rising despite apparent bump in surgeries being done: Doctors Manitoba
Number of patients waiting on surgeries, tests up by 6,300 since February
The number of Manitobans waiting on surgery and diagnostic tests due to pandemic disruptions continues to rise despite gains made in the number of procedures being done, a physician advocacy organization says.
Doctors Manitoba's latest estimates suggest the pandemic backlog stands at almost 168,000, an increase of about 6,300 since the organization's update released in February.
"This is a significant increase and it reflects the continued disruptions to surgery and diagnostic testing that has occurred throughout the Omicron wave," Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Kristjan Thompson, an emergency room physician at St. Boniface Hospital, said Tuesday.
"Pre-pandemic volumes alone won't help to clear the massive backlog," Thompson said. "New capacity must be added to help those Manitobans who are still left waiting in pain and uncertainty."
Thompson says physicians are encouraged recent provincial updates suggest surgical volumes are returning to pre-pandemic levels in many hospitals.
That announcement came earlier this month when the province's backlog task force said as levels rebounded, it expected most facilities would have ramped up surgery counts to normal levels by mid-March.
So far, all but 202 health-care staff redeployed to care for COVID-19 patients have returned to their positions in surgery and diagnostics. That represents a jump of more than 60 per cent compared to six weeks ago at the peak of the Omicron wave, according to the province.
A Manitoba Health spokesperson said non-emergent surgeries have increased by almost 50 per cent compared to this time in February and the number of surgeries being done is almost back to "baseline-funded capacity" in three fo four health regions outside of Winnipeg. Cardiac, cancer and other urgent surgeries are still being prioritized.
However, despite some improvements, Doctors Manitoba maintains backlogs ballooned in nearly every area since earlier this year, save for mammogram and sleep disorder tests.
"That's unbelievable," said Rebecca Ellis, who has been waiting 14 months for a hysterectomy. "People are depending on being able to get in for these surgeries to live their lives."
Ellis continues to wait in pain for the procedure for adenomyosis, a condition where uterine tissue lining grows into surrounding muscle.
The child-care worker says her condition continues to deteriorate.
"There's days I don't even want to get out bed I am in so much pain," she said. "I am angry, I am frustrated. I have actually sought therapy to deal with the emotional and mental side of having to deal with the waiting and the pain."
Thompson estimates about 10 per cent of Manitobans have been affected by the backlog.
The organization says based on latest estimates, the backlog consists of:
- 54,820 surgeries — an increase of nearly 2,500 since January.
- 45,250 diagnostic imaging procedures — a jump of 2,762 since January.
- 67,816 other diagnostic procedures, including allergy tests, endoscopies, mammograms, sleep disorder studies, lung function tests — an increase of 1,047 since February.
Doctors Manitoba releases monthly estimates based information from a variety of sources, including accounts from physicians, but it continues to call on the province to put out monthly, transparent estimates of its own.
"Until we truly understand the scope of this backlog we're not going to be able to address it properly," Thompson said.
The task force intends to provide that information in the future as more data becomes available, a provincial spokesperson said.
The organization recently added a page that links to patients' stories of the impact waiting has had on their health.
It also plans to soon begin releasing more refined data Thompson says will better reflect the number of delayed or missed procedures that are no longer needed — either because a patient's condition improved, deteriorated or they died, among other factors.
Thompson said he would like to see the task force enabled to take more feedback from frontline physicians, and he wants Manitoba to make the tendering process more accessible so doctors can more easily weigh in on solutions being considered by government.
New capacity must be added to help those Manitobans who are still left waiting in pain and uncertainty.- Dr. Kristjan Thompson, Doctors Manitoba
The task force appointees were announced last fall. The team has already taken steps to begin reducing the backlog, including outsourcing some care to the U.S. and to private clinics in Winnipeg.
Another solution could be for the province to lift the caps it places on a number of kinds of surgeries and procedures that can be done annually.
"Surgeons are willing to work more, to do everything they can to address this backlog and that includes going above and beyond their regular work hours, working on weekends, evenings, whatever they need to," Thompson said.
If the province were to do that it would also need to bump up the amount of available operating room time and ensure there were enough nurses and other workers. Ramping up surgeries is also coming at a time of widespread burnout in the system, said Thompson.
He called on the province to ensure the task force has the authority and resources to ensure needed changes materialize.
"Having a system that is on the brink constantly is not an efficient way of running a health-care system," Thompson said. "If we don't take those steps today we will be dealing with this again in the future."
Thompson also repeated calls for the province to set an end date as a goal for clearing the backlog.
Are you waiting for a surgery, procedure or diagnostic test due to pandemic delays? Let us know by filling out CBC's survey on the pronounced effect COVID-19 is having on Manitoba's health-care system.
With files from Peggy Lam