Hundreds of postponed surgeries show value of Manitoba surgical task force disbanded by NDP: Opposition

The number of postponed surgeries in Manitoba dropped in the NDP's first months in office, but the Progressive Conservatives say the government has hampered progress by disbanding a initiative the former PC government launched to reduce the surgical backlog.

PC health critic Kathleen Cook wondered whether fewer people would have been turned away if the surgical and diagnostic task force, which the NDP dismantled shortly after taking office late last year, still existed. 

"One of the first things the government did upon taking office is cut that task force, so it's difficult to say how much better those numbers could have been if that task force hadn't been cut," Cook told reporters.

During question period Wednesday, the Tories presented a document obtained through a freedom of information request that shows between October to December 2023 — the first three months of the NDP's term in office — 469 surgeries at Winnipeg hospitals, excluding Misericordia Health Centre, were postponed on the day of procedure.

Cook said that's too many. 

"Here's what concerns me: they cut the task force, they prohibited patients from going out of province for care when the waitlists here were too long."

The budget the NDP delivered last week is also lacking in measures to cut surgical waits, Cook said.

"I think that's creating a bit of a perfect storm for these wait times to only get worse."

NDP made progress

The NDP, however, was quick to say the number of surgical postponements was higher under the PC government.

Over the October to December period in 2022, around 100 more surgeries were postponed on the day they were supposed to happen compared to the same period last year, according to information obtained by a freedom of information request.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said their NDP government has made progress, but they aren't satisfied. 

"What we know, actually, is that our government's investments in improving surgical capacity, adding slates to Grace Hospital, adding capacity at Concordia, HSC [Health Sciences Centre], Brandon" are working, the minister said.

"Now obviously, we want all Manitobans to get the surgeries they need when they're slated. We want to continue to move in a better direction."

The task force established by the PC government was charged with cutting a backlog of tens of thousands of surgeries, tests and diagnostic procedures made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the task force eliminated some waitlists, it was chastised for sending some patients out of province as the province attempted to build up capacity in Manitoba's public health-care system.

The NDP regularly accused the task force of prioritizing private health-care over the public system.

Cook has slammed the NDP government for disbanding the task force before Manitoba's surgical capacity was sufficiently built up.

In a statement attached to the PC's freedom of information request, Shared Health — the organization that oversees health-care delivery in the province — indicated the postponements are based upon individual patient factors (such as the patient missing their surgery or not being medically fit) or resource reasons (such as bed or staffing shortages). 

The Tories called on the government to release surgical cancellations for the first three months of 2024.

The province didn't provide those numbers to media on Wednesday.