Orthopaedic surgeries down 25% in B.C. public hospitals as private sector picks up slack
The surgeons who replace worn-out joints and fix broken bones report that they’re doing only three quarters of the surgeries they used to in British Columbia's public hospitals, with an increasing number of taxpayer-funded procedures carried out in private facilities.
The anecdotal figures come as multiple orthopaedists have contacted CTV News to report wait times have grown so long for their patients, some of them are no longer seeing new people for assessments.
“In terms of the days I have allotted in the operating room, they're still running at maybe 75 per cent (of what it used to be),” said Dr. Cassandra Lane Dielwart, president of the BC Orthopaedic Association, from her practice in Kelowna. “We're booking less surgeries, we're putting less people into that surgical slot because we don't have the hospital capacity to get the same amount of work done.”
Dielwart and other healthcare workers describe a scarcity of experienced peri-operative nurses, staffed recovery beds, and other resources resulting in fewer patients each day a surgeon takes up a scalpel.
On the North Shore, Dr. Richard Nadeau said that where he used to have around six dedicated operating room days a month pre-pandemic, he only gets about four now.
“The time from when they see a surgeon to the time they have surgery, there's a higher proportion of patients that are waiting longer,” he said. “These patients do live with a significant amount of pain and disability so we do want to advocate for them.”
MORE PRIVATE CENTRES PERFORMING PUBLIC SURGERIES
This comes at a time the health minister says that the province is performing record numbers of surgeries.
“The number of people waiting for surgeries has dropped,” claimed Adrian Dix on an appearance of CTV Morning Live on Monday.
But sources say not only are surgeons willing to see fewer new patients as wait times grow, they’re also sceptical of all the government’s claims because only part of the patient’s experience – from the time their pain begins to the day they have a hip replacement, for example – is captured in government statistics and doesn’t include delays in medical imaging.
Dielwart revealed that government has increasingly gone to privately-operated surgical clinics for day procedures, like arthroscopic surgery, which is contracted with taxpayer dollars so the patient doesn’t pay. She emphasized there are wide variations in wait times and reliance on private surgical centres throughout the province.
In the 2020/2021 fiscal year, the province spent a record $27 million for private delivery of public healthcare at surgical clinics, so CTV News asked the ministry of health for updated numbers; four business days after our request was made, they still have not provided them.
WHAT COMES NEXT
Despite criticism that there’s only one pool of healthcare workers in the province and use of private surgical centres undermines the public system, Dix has defended the growing use of those centres since the numbers are so small: from 3.5 per cent of total surgeries in 2018 to 4.4 per cent in 2020.
“Having a small number of surgeries that increase our capacity,” he told CTV News last August. “As long as there's no extra billing and they follow the Medicare Protection Act, I don’t have any objection to that.
But even Dielwart, who has been a proponent of the increased use of private surgical centres to clear patient backlogs and improve their quality of life, is concerned about the most complex cases relying on a public hospital system that’s deteriorating.
“My biggest fear and the fear of many different surgeons is this becomes our new normal – that all of a sudden our Canadian healthcare system our British Columbia healthcare system is operating at 75 per cent,” she said. “Efficiencies have gone so low that thinking forward, we're going to have a hard time keeping up even to what's happening right now.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised
'How much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma'am?' While that may seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is showing it's much too close to reality.
opinion I've been a criminal attorney for decades. Here's what I think about the case against Trump
Joey Jackson, a criminal defence attorney and a legal analyst for CNN, outlines what he thinks about the criminal case against Donald Trump in the 'hush money trial.'
$3.8M home in B.C.'s Okanagan has steel shell for extra wildfire protection
A home in B.C.'s Okanagan that features a weathering steel shell designed to provide some protection against wildfires has been listed for sale at $3.8 million.
Diver pinned under water by an alligator figured he had choice. Lose his arm or lose his life
An alligator attacked a diver on April 15 as he surfaced from his dive, nearly out of air. His tank emptied with the gator's jaws crushing the arm he put up in defence.
Psychologist becomes first person in Peru to die by euthanasia after fighting in court for years
A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and had her confined to her bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer said Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
Celebrity designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags
A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the 'Sex and the City' TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.
Wildfire leads to evacuation order issued for northeast Alberta community
An evacuation order was issued on Monday afternoon for homes in the area of Cold Lake First Nation.