Saskatchewan is preparing to send surgical patients to Calgary to help reduce its backlog, a strategy that is affecting some Alberta surgeons.
This week, Saskatchewan’s health minister announced the province would temporarily hire a private Calgary clinic in the fall to perform 20 to 25 knee and hip replacement surgeries a month, although the government would not cover the costs of journey.
“This option would be offered to patients, on a completely voluntary basis, who have waited longer for their joint replacement procedures as work is done to accelerate expansion plans at public and private facilities in Saskatchewan,” said the ‘Saskatchewan Health Authority at CBC News.
He declined to name the Calgary facility in question, saying more details will be announced once contracts are finalized.
“My reaction is mostly one of sadness because obviously this is a move of absolute desperation,” said Dr. John Fernandes, a family physician and office-based surgery specialist at Northwest Surgical Clinic in Calgary.
“None of this is manageable by any means. What will happen is that for every patient that comes from Saskatchewan, there is potentially a patient from Alberta that will not be able to access this type of surgery.”
He noted that Alberta also deals with similar issues and often has to refer patients out of province for surgeries.
The Alberta government says the “small number of surgeries involved” in the Saskatchewan contract should have no impact on efforts to reduce Alberta’s own surgical waiting list. Just under 72,000 adults are awaiting processing in Alberta.
“Alberta was aware that Saskatchewan issued a request for proposal late last year to contract licensed surgical centers in Canada. However, Alberta Health was not aware that an Alberta facility would fulfill that contract,” he said a statement from the office of the Minister of Health, Jason Copping.
He added that Saskatchewan is communicating with Alberta about the next initiative.
The shortage of staff, the availability of surgeons a concern
Dr. Anthony Gomes, head of general surgery at the Alberta Medical Association, explained that patients receiving private surgeries usually go through employer’s or workers’ compensation, not the waiting list. public However, he said the demand for surgeons, operating room nurses and anesthesiologists could have repercussions for Alberta patients.
“It takes surgeons away from work they could be doing in public hospitals,” he said.
“Our system does not have the resources to deal with the number of patients who need procedures.”
The Alberta government is also outsourcing procedures to contracted surgical facilities to reduce the backlog, but only within the province. Some specialized procedures that are not available in Alberta, such as for rare cancers, are regularly referred to other provinces.
Copping’s office says the total number of orthopedic and ophthalmology surgeries completed this fiscal year will be 44 percent higher than last year, putting the pandemic behind schedule. Between April and August, more than 87,000 surgical interventions were performed.
These contractual strategies, according to Fernandes, indicate a healthcare system in desperate need of reform.
“It is increasingly clear that there is no solution with the current design of our healthcare system, and it is falling apart in different areas, like a stack of dominoes.”
Gomes agreed that something needs to change to effectively reduce wait times for necessary surgeries.
“There needs to be long-term thinking and long-term investment. And it needs to be aligned with patient needs.”