There's a shortage of radiation techs in N.L., creating a long wait for imaging exams, advocates say
Shortage of radiation technologists cannot keep up with rising demand
For cancer patients, imaging exams like CT scans or MRIs are an essential first step in their treatment, but professional associations say a shortage of medical radiation technologists has increased the wait times for these exams in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Imaging is usually crucial to getting a diagnosis, and then important again for the treatment that will be part of a patient's medical care. Delays in screening can cause a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for patients and their families, says Heather Mulligan, the manager of advocacy for Atlantic Canada with the Canadian Cancer Society.
Mulligan says cancer is easier to treat when detected early.
"Any delay, whether it be a test, a screening, has impacts on patients, but also has impacts on their individual treatment journeys as well as their diagnosis," she told CBC News.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, there are thousands of patients waiting for imaging exams like CT scans and MRIs.
Both the Department of Health and Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services refused a request for an interview. In an emailed statement, Mikaela Etchegary, media relations manager with the province's health authority, said that based on data from patients who have already received care, the longest wait for a CT is 316 days. For MRIs, it's 441 days.
Mulligan says the wait time is due to a shortage of human resources that stems from burnout incurred during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This is not just limited to doctors or nurses or oncologists, which we often talk about. This also includes our medical radiology ... therapists," she said.
Access to cancer screening is especially difficult for patients in rural communities, she adds.
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Imaging is key to treatment, expert says
The Canadian Association of Radiologists has guidelines for the maximum amount of time a patient should wait for a CT scan. Priority 1 patients — or patients who have a life-threatening injury or disease — should get an examination within 24 hours.
Priority 4, or non-urgent patients, should wait a maximum of 60 days for their CT scan, the guidelines say.
Dr. Ania Kielar, president of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, said imaging scans are an essential step in many patients' health-care regimens.
"It's very hard to have an operation if the surgeon doesn't know what's happening inside. It's very hard for an oncologist ... to treat somebody or something that they don't see until they get the imaging," she said.
"We need to know if the treatment is working and that's why we need follow-up imaging as well."
Across Canada, there is a shortage of equipment and radiation technologists, Kielar said. She said there are not enough schools in the country to train technologists, and added that stressors from the COVID-19 pandemic have been leading many professionals to retire early.
She also said the overall demand for CT scan imaging has been on the rise.
"Our patient population is also getting a little bit older. People have more medical issues as they get older," she said.
"We just can't keep up with the demand based on how much equipment and we have and how many people we have to run that equipment."
More MRTs needed
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the number of CT scans between 2010 and 2022 increased by 71 per cent, while the number of radiation technologists performing the exams has only grown by less than 1 per cent, according to the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists.
"There are not enough full-time positions in the system to match this demand," said Jennifer Carey, the provincial manager for the association's Atlantic chapter.
"What we're saying as a profession is that there are not enough MRTs in the system."
While the province has been focused on the recruitment and retention of doctors, Carey thinks the government needs to provide more support to other health-care professions, including the skilled technologists who keep critical equipment running.
"What the government and the Health Department need to do is broaden their scope when they're looking at initiatives around recruitment and retention," said Carey.
"But understand that there are many professions, you know, us included, that are the essential link to better care."
Jerry Earle, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees, says he's also hearing about a shortage of technologists.
"They are critical to diagnosis and proper treatment. And anytime there's a shortage, it's going to have an impact on people that are waiting for this diagnosis ... and it actually prolongs the process."
He also says that there are shortages in all corners of the health-care system.
"It can't be about singling out a couple of occupations because every occupation in health-care contributes to the care [and] diagnosis of patients," said Earle. "If one of those pieces are missing in that team, it will have an impact."
Workers stretched thin
While N.L. Health Services says it's been tackling this problem by adding more weekend and evening appointments, Earle says this will only add more pressure to staff.
"It's taking a toll on those staffers there because they know if they don't expend their hours and step up, there are people going to wait for prolonged periods," he said.
"It's falling on the backs of frontline workers that are already stressed to the max, that are over-utilized."
Earle says the province needs to look at a "home-grown" approach to tackling the shortage of health-care workers, including creating more seats in training programs and making changes to the work environment that will encourage students to stay in the province.
"We got to get into high schools early," he said, "convince young people there are great opportunities, support them into our colleges and then recruit them into our health-care system, right here in Newfoundland and Labrador."
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