Surgical, diagnostic backlog continues to grow

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This article was published 22/03/2022 (1454 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The temporary closure of 12 rehabilitation beds at Brandon Regional Health Centre is the result of staff shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Prairie Mountain Health.

“Like all health facilities across the province and country, we are continuing to battle through the pandemic, and staffing challenges remain a reality,” CEO Brian Schoonbaert told the Sun in an email. “PMH continues efforts to recruit and retain staff to alleviate shortages and vacancies.”

Rehabilitation beds are used for patients recovering from injuries or surgeries that diminished their mobility and require inpatient care.

Although regional health authorities are working to clear backlogs and fill staffing positions, Manitoba’s surgical and diagnostic backlog continues to grow at a “significant” rate, said Dr. Kristjan Thompson, president of Doctors Manitoba. Even with data suggesting surgical volumes are returning to pre-pandemic levels, it isn’t going to be enough to eradicate the backlog.

According to Doctors Manitoba’s website, the total estimated pandemic backlog is now 167,887 cases, an increase of 6,302 from last month. This includes 54,820 surgeries (as of January 2022), up 2,493 over the last month’s estimate; 45,251 diagnostic imaging procedures (as of January 2022), up 2,762 cases over last month’s estimate, and 67,816 other diagnostic procedures (as of February 2022), including allergy tests, endoscopies, mammograms, sleep disorder studies, and lung function tests —an increase of 1,047 cases over last month’s estimate.

Health system leaders are working with the province’s surgical and diagnostic backlog task force to address short- and long-term solutions. Part of this involves building capacity. In the meantime, Doctors Manitoba is still waiting for the province to set a date for when the backlog will be cleared, Thompson said.

Hospitals were already running at or near capacity before the pandemic, so the system had limited room for the surges of COVID patients, leading to the thousands of cancelled procedures.

“It’s a complicated problem … but there is good evidence showing that a health-care system that is operating at 100 per cent capacity all the time isn’t running efficiently,” he said. “It doesn’t have the surge capacity to handle even small increases in acuity and volume, and that was before the pandemic.”

While hiring and training more staff is a good strategy, Thompson said there needs to be more protections in place for existing staff, especially to address wellness and burnout.

“That moral distress of not being able to provide the care you ought to is something a lot of us have struggled with throughout the pandemic,” he said. “I think dealing with burnout will be critical in the coming years to help retain our health human resource pool in addition to increasing training and capacity.”

A new feature on the Doctors Manitoba website highlights the toll the backlog is taking on Manitoba patients.

“These aren’t just numbers, they’re people. They’re our neighbours, our friends, our family, and our loved ones,” Thompson said. “The harrowing stories of Manitobans left waiting help us to understand the true impact this enormous backlog is having on patients and their families.”

The surgical and diagnostic backlog dashboard can be accessed at DoctorsManitoba.ca/backlog.

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