The NLMA has released an update on surgical backlogs in the province’s health care system.
The Medical Association reported in March that the health system shutdown and cancelled surgeries contributed to a backlog of 6,113 non-emergency surgical procedures in the province.
The Medical Association says a month later the backlog has not improved. Surgeons in the St. John’s area have advised the NLMA that as of April 12, their combined waitlists totaled 6,797 backlogged surgical cases.
The greatest backlog is in non-oncology orthopedic surgery, with nearly 3,000 patients still waiting for that knee operation or hip replacement.
General surgery is next with a backlog of just over 1,000 patients. Most concerning, however, is the backlog of cancer surgery patients including just over 100 of them awaiting urologic cancer surgery, 40 who are awaiting general cancer surgery and 17 patients awaiting gynecological cancer surgery.
The NLMA is continuing its call for government to reduce the surgical backlog to pre-pandemic levels by a fixed date, increase operating room capacity, and to bring surgeons and nurses together to help regional health authorities in developing a plan to reduce the surgical backlog.