The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association is pleased to hear that government will be implementing all 32 recommendations from the Provincial Surgical Task Force report.

Government officially released the report yesterday, which aims to reduce backlogs in the system.

NLMA president Dr. Gerard Farrell calls the recommendations very comprehensive but noted that the emphasis on the community will require additional capacity given how stretched those resources are already.

He says the problem with surgical waitlists in the province is “significant.”

Farrell says it is very hard and frustrating for physicians who can’t get their patients the care they need in the current environment.

“Every family doctor that’s out there has probably got one person that they go to sleep at night thinking about and wake up in the morning thinking about,” he said. “That’s what it means to us.

“When you clear all of the other issues off the table, that’s what bothers me. I’ve had days when, at the end of a morning, I’ve looked at the list and wondered what have I accomplished for these folks? Not because I’m not trying hard but because I can’t get them what they need, and that’s what plays on the minds of a lot of physicians in this province right now.”

Meanwhile, the vice-president of transformation with NL Health Service concedes the backlog remains large.

Cassie Chisholm says thousands of people are still waiting for surgeries, from joint replacements to cataract procedures.

She says that list was compiled among the different RHAs and includes people who may no longer need surgery for one reason or another, which is something they’re trying to update.

The province is developing a centralized, single-entry surgical waitlist to standardize and unify previous processes.