The Opposition Tories say better planning could’ve avoided the backlog of surgeries being highlighted by the province’s medical association.

NLMA president Dr. Susan MacDonald noted delays due to COVID and the IT hack and outage left doctors unable to provide patients with access to non-emergency surgical procedures within a reasonable time.

They say the problem is provincewide, but most severe in St. John’s, with more than 6,000 cases in the queue at the Health Sciences Centre and St. Clare’s alone.

PC Health critic Paul Dinn says if the province has a plan to clear the backlog it should be engaged now, not a month from now in the budget.

He says some people simply can’t wait anymore, adding that putting off immediate action in favour of announcements in the April 7th budget would be unacceptable. Dinn says that would only lead to more stress and anxiety, “which is not what the doctor ordered.”

He says a good start would be making better use of operating rooms on weekends and weeknights.