B.C. radiologists sound alarm over backlogs as province claims wait times are down
As the province's radiologists raise the alarm about extensive backlogs impacting patients, B.C.'s Ministry of Health is claiming that wait times for medical imaging and even surgeries are shorter than before the pandemic started.
The BC Radiological Society couldn’t provide specific data for how long waits are for medical imaging (including MRIs, CT scans, and ultrasounds) because the Ministry of Health does not make that data public. But, the society says, waits to access the scans are growing due to aging machinery and staffing shortages that have worsened during the pandemic and grown more acute during the Omicron wave.
"There's an email chain going around right now with the breast radiologists in the Lower Mainland saying, 'Can you take our patients?’ And everyone is saying, 'No, we've got our own crazy waitlist,’" said Dr. Charlotte Yong-Hing, who serves as president of the society, as well as medical director of breast imaging at the BC Cancer Agency, while treating patients herself.
“We all work as hard as we can, but there are not enough ultrasound technicians, not enough ultrasound machines, not enough breast radiologists – there just isn't enough capacity."
Dr. Simon Bicknell, who specializes in diagnostic and interventional radiology, pointed out that most surgeons won’t see patients until they have imaging in hand, and that impacts patients facing all sorts of medical challenges.
"If it's an acute inflammatory event, an abscess can develop and by the time they get to the hospital, that abscess might be bigger,” he said. “If the problem is a cancer, if you've put off getting that assessed by your primary practitioner or a specialist, that can change a stage by just sitting on it and waiting for months."
Bicknell emphasized that patients needing urgent emergency scans are getting them right away. However, while the national standard is 30 to 60 days’ wait for most scans, he said he knows many British Columbians are now waiting months.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH DISPUTES FRONTLINE PRACTITIONERS
British Columbia’s radiologists are speaking up with province-specific concerns and anecdotes in the wake of their national organization warning that patients Canada-wide need more staff and better equipment to handle a backlog that was concerning before the pandemic, but has worsened considerably since.
That’s why the insistence of B.C.’s Ministry of Health that surgical waits have remained “about the same,” while wait times for MRI exams are “lower” is confounding.
“For MRI exams, not only have health authorities and health-care workers continued to build on the progress that has been made since government launched its Surgical and Diagnostic Imaging strategy, today the wait times for MRI exam are lower than they were before COVID,” wrote a ministry spokesperson.
The spokesperson included two charts showing improvements for the vast majority of surgical waits and MRIs, presented in a format that Bicknell and Yong-Hing found unconventional and baffling. They say the charts’ presentation of wait times is not how waits are typically tracked and the percentile presentation comes without medical indicators.
Notably absent are results for CT and ultrasound scans, which make up a significant proportion of medical imaging in the province. And, the chart does not include priority levels, which the province outlines as having different targets (hours versus weeks).
SHORT- AND LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES AND REDUCE ANXIETY
Waiting for medical imaging that can tell a patient if they’re a candidate for life-improving back surgery – or whether the tumour causing them discomfort is benign or not – often causes tremendous anxiety; their work and family lives are impacted, in addition to their prognosis.
"That has enormous societal implications," said Bicknell, pointing to loss productivity in addition to quality of life considerations.
“We'd love to run (scans) 24/7, but don't have the workers to do it.”
While it takes years to train technicians and physicians to do the highly technical work, investments in new technology not only increase reliability, but also efficiency. Newer machines require less effort to operate and can provide results more efficiently, often with fewer scans or images required.
In the short-term, Yong-Hing believes the Health Minister could slash wait times with improved compensation for those already on the job.
"It’s a money problem, there's not enough money. If there was money to pay the technologist to provide MR scanning time, to adequately to remunerate the people who are providing the service, I think the capacity would improve,” she said. “Even before COVID, we were overwhelmed, so COVID has just exacerbated the pre-existing situation with unacceptable wait times and outdated equipment."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Next 48 hours will be 'extremely challenging' for B.C. wildfire crews near Fort Nelson: officials
A wildfire burning dangerously close to Fort Nelson, B.C., has grown to more than 50 square kilometres, and officials are warning that the blaze's behaviour is expected to become more volatile over the next 48 hours.
Southern Ont. man charged with attempted murder in Timmins shooting
One of two men wanted for attempted murder in Timmins has been arrested, while a warrant has been issued for a second suspect, who fled police on foot.