Kinew presses Tories on dashboard

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/09/2022 (1240 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba NDP want to know where the promised provincial surgical and diagnostic dashboard is, with the province stating it is in its final stages of development.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew made a public call for the dashboard on Tuesday during a media conference at the legislature, adding the dashboard was supposed to be delivered already.

This is not the first time the Progressive Conservatives have missed one of their own deadlines, he said, adding such information is public and Manitobans have a right to know how long it will take to get the health care they need.

“They committed to sharing this information with Manitobans, and they’ve already missed their self-imposed deadline a few times,” Kinew said in an interview with the Sun. “Obviously, it’s a concern and it doesn’t inspire confidence in the rest of their approach to surgeries. At the very least, we are putting out the call to put up the commitment they have already made with Manitobans.”

Back in late June, the PCs, along with the Surgical and Diagnostic Task Force Steering Committee, announced an online dashboard would be available to show media wait times, the number of Manitobans waiting and the number of completed procedures in July. When that deadline was missed, the PCs said it would be available by September.

Kinew said this dashboard would at least allow people to see when surgeries are available and the progress of clearing the backlog. Over the course of the pandemic, the PCs showed they could put dashboards to use with similar applications, like vaccine finders currently being utilized to help people find the nearest available COVID shots.

Now with the huge challenge of the surgical and diagnostic backlog, Manitobans can expect the government can share information with them on a regular basis, added Kinew.

“With the PCs holding back what they are paying American companies, and now this, we are pointing out this is a mistake,” he said. “The openness and transparency of this dashboard on surgeries should be shared with people so they can have a clearer picture of how our province is doing at delivering these operations to people when they need them.”

A spokesperson from the province stated in an email Manitoba Health currently publishes wait time info at gov.mb.ca/health/waittime/index.html. The team of experts working with the task force have been working all summer to develop the dashboard and are in the final review stages, the spokesperson explained. The team has been working closely with provincial data management and with Doctors Manitoba, who have shown public support for the dashboard. No definite date was given, but the spokesperson said the launch would happen in the near future.

Earlier in the summer, the Task Force sought the feedback on a preview of their dashboard, a spokesperson for Doctors Manitoba stated in an email.

The Surgical and Diagnostic Task Force is meeting with Doctors Manitoba again this week for an update.

“While it is certainly important to continue measuring and monitoring the size of the backlog on a regular basis, it is also important to build more capacity to catch up and get patients the care they need. We are looking forward to seeing progress in this area soon through the various Task Force initiatives,” the spokesperson stated.

Doctors Manitoba had been keeping their own surgical and diagnostic backlog dashboard on their website. Earlier this year, then-board chair Dr. Kristjan Thompson said it was being revised with data from surveys and reports from physicians and surgeons around the province, making it more of an estimate than an accurate number.

However, it hasn’t been updated since June 28, when an estimated 102,139 to 128,447 surgical and diagnostic procedures were backlogged in the province. The spokesperson said the organization stopped updating because the province said it would be picking up the work with their own dashboard.

» kmckinley@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @karenleighmcki1