More than 2,000 patients in Canada died while waiting for medical care in 2020
In Ontario, the province’s Financial Accountability Office predicts the province’s surgical backlog will take more than three years and $1.3 billion to clear
National Post
National Post Staff
Jul 09, 2021
Key Messages
- At least 2,367 patients across Canada died while on a waiting list for medical care in 2020, a report published in June found.
- In 2020, patients who died while on a waiting list increased by five per cent from the previous fiscal year, the report found.
- In addition to life-saving surgery, patients who died while waiting for procedures that would improve quality of life in their final years, such as cataract, knee and hip surgery, were also included in the figure.
- The deaths occurred while on a waiting list for anywhere from less than a week to about eight years.
- Canada postponed more than 353,913 surgeries, procedures and other medical appointments in the first wave of COVID-19, a report from the group earlier this year found.
- Ontario’s Science Table announced in April that almost a quarter million Ontarians were waiting for surgery. The Ontario Medical Association estimated last month that the first COVID-19 wave created a backlog of close to 16 million health care services in the province, more than one for each resident.
- The province’s Financial Accountability Office predicted the province’s surgical backlog would take more than three years and $1.3 billion to clear.
- The OMA found it would take almost ten months to get caught up on cardiac surgery and almost two years for knee surgery, if working at 120 per cent.
- The enormous backlog measured out to 477,301 MRIs, 269,683 CT scans, 90,136 cataract surgery, 38,263 knee and 16,506 hip replacements and 3,163 coronary artery bypass grafts.
Full article:
At least 2,367 patients across Canada died while on a waiting list for medical care in 2020, a report published in June found.
The results were obtained by the conservative-leaning think tank Second Street, which used responses from public data and freedom of information requests submitted to provincial health departments and hospitals. It counted patients who died while waiting for surgery, diagnostic scans and appointments with specialists.
In 2020, patients who died while on a waiting list increased by five per cent from the previous fiscal year, the report found. A direct comparison is difficult to make, however, as fewer responses were received for 2020.
In addition to life-saving surgery, patients who died while waiting for procedures that would improve quality of life in their final years, such as cataract, knee and hip surgery, were also included in the figure.
“Patients often value eyesight and mobility as much as life itself,” states the report.
The deaths occurred while on a waiting list for anywhere from less than a week to about eight years.
The researchers were unable to collect data from Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, “two major health regions in British Columbia, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and several hospitals in Ontario.”
“Many health bodies in Canada previously informed secondstreet.org that they do not track the reasons for surgical cancellations,” states the report. “If governments improved their tracking and disclosure of patient suffering in the health care system, it would be easier to determine the magnitude of the problem.”
Canada postponed more than 353,913 surgeries, procedures and other medical appointments in the first wave of COVID-19, a report from the group earlier this year found.
Ontario’s Science Table announced in April that almost a quarter million Ontarians were waiting for surgery. The Ontario Medical Association estimated last month that the first COVID-19 wave created a backlog of close to 16 million health care services in the province, more than one for each resident.
The province’s Financial Accountability Office predicted the province’s surgical backlog would take more than three years and $1.3 billion to clear.
The OMA found it would take almost ten months to get caught up on cardiac surgery and almost two years for knee surgery, if working at 120 per cent.
The enormous backlog measured out to
- 477,301 MRIs,
- 269,683 CT scans,
- 90,136 cataract surgery,
- 38,263 knee and
- 16,506 hip replacements and
- 3,163 coronary artery bypass grafts.
In the latest report, Second Street recommends governments to do a “much better job” tracking and disclosing patient information on incidents of patients negatively impacted by long wait times.
It also argues for private run healthcare providers to be allowed to provide the same procedures as public health systems and for public health bodies to be financially incentivized based on performance.
Originally published at https://nationalpost.com.
Link to the original report:
