Canadians waiting longer for priority surgeries than recommended
Half of all Canadians needing priority procedures like joint replacement or cataract surgery waited longer than the recommended time during the first wave of COVID-19, according to new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
The institute took data from the first six months of the pandemic to see how surgeries were affected by the first wave.
CIHI said it found cancelled and delayed procedures during the pandemic led to longer wait times for joint replacements and cataract surgeries in 2020.
"What I think we probably knew when things had to be cancelled, was there was going to be challenges with waits. What the full impact of that (is) will be hard to tell until we have further data," said Tracy Johnson, director of health system analytics at CIHI.
The data shows around half of Canadians did not receive their procedures within recommended time frames, compared with around one-third in 2019.
CIHI found urgent procedures like radiation therapy and hip fracture repair wait times were not affected as much.
Most Canadians continued to receive care within benchmark periods, and the number of procedures done was comparable with that completed in 2019.
The data also shows for people who received breast, bladder, colorectal, and lung cancer surgery, the median wait times improved by two or three days. The number of cancer surgeries did decrease by about one-fifth compared with 2019, though.
According to CIHI, wait times for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans continued to be longer than those for computed tomography (CT) scans, although the number of diagnostic imaging scans decreased. The institute said wait times varied across provinces.
The decrease in diagnostic imaging is a concern for CIHI since they are key in diagnosing cancer.
"The decreases in the number of diagnostic imaging scans have already been flagged as a challenge for areas like cancer, where 25 per cent of diagnostic imaging is scans for cancer."
Johnson said without imaging, cancer can go undetected for a longer time, which typically lends itself to worse outcomes.
Moving forward, Johnson said provinces will need to start addressing the longer wait times and dealing with the backlog.
"It's been identified that one of the key challenges about the cancellations is about how we get to that backlog and how we get through that backlog," said Johnson.
"We know we have available operating room pace after hours in Canada," Johnson said. "Our biggest challenge will be health human resources, so nurses, anesthesiologists, and physicians. That is really the limiting factor."
CIHI said it is currently working on surgery data from March to June 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.