Pandemic sparks big backlog of elective surgeries

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This article was published 22/10/2020 (1274 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A backlog of nearly 5,000 elective surgeries exists in Winnipeg seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic.

And two studies done at the University of Manitoba show there are negative effects — both physical and emotional — of cancelling or postponing surgeries.

There were 4,993 surgeries waiting to be performed at Health Sciences Centre and other hospitals within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority as of late last week, a Shared Health spokeswoman said Thursday.

The organization, which oversees hospitals in the province, has said no surgeries are currently being postponed because of COVID-19-related causes, but suggested that non-urgent surgeries could be put on hold again.

At the height of Manitoba’s initial pandemic response in the spring, elective surgeries were suspended.

“COVID-19 contingency planning includes the identification of additional and/or dedicated space and the purchase and ordering of additional equipment and supplies,” the spokeswoman said.

“It also includes plans that would allow for the redeployment of staff to areas in need of additional support. This may occur on a provincial basis but it may also occur as needed, site by site if staffing or resource issues occur due to spikes in COVID-19 activity or staff illness/isolation.

“The consideration of a reduction of elective and non-urgent services remains an option in circumstances where staff and/or space and equipment need to be redeployed.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Renee El-Gabalawy, assistant professor of clinical health psychology and anesthesiology at the Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, said a pair of studies led by Jordana Sommer, a doctor student in clinical psychology there, showed surgical cancellations and postponements have a “detrimental impact on patients’ physical and mental health.

“They are experiencing higher levels of stress, anxiety, pain and sleep disorder.”

El-Gabalawy said COVID-19, with shutdowns of elective surgeries across the country at various times, has made surgical scheduling even more difficult for months.

“There’s a lot of implications for difficulties in accessing surgical care not only to the patient, in terms of physical and mental health outcomes, but to the health-care organizations,” she said. “This is a really challenging time for patients within the health-care system.

“It’s really important to understand these trends in Canada in order to think about solutions.”

The one study found that between 2005 to 2014, 15.6 per cent of Canadians needing a past-year, non-emergency surgery experienced problems getting surgical care, including waiting a long time for surgery and finding it hard to even get an appointment.

As well, the people who reported problems getting surgery waited an average of 131 days, while those who had no problems reported it taking 54 days on average.

In the other study, 23.5 per cent of people who had their surgeries cancelled or postponed said their life was affected by waiting for surgery and more than one in 10 of these people experienced more worry, stress and anxiety.

El-Gabalawy said the statistics come from data compiled by Statistics Canada and come from across the country. She doesn’t know how Manitoba fares with the results.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca