Surgical volumes hit high point last year, reducing backlog, but doctors say there's still work to do

The number of surgeries performed in the province between April 2023 to March 2024 rebounded, for the first time, above pre-pandemic levels but Doctors Manitoba said the lingering COVID-19 surgery backlog is still "significant" and the recovery is proving to be slow.

Doctors Manitoba said surgical volumes in the province plummeted during the pandemic by as much as 20 per cent.

But a newly released report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) indicates the number of surgeries completed in the province in the last fiscal year exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the first time, with 102,227 surgeries performed.

The surgical volume last year was only one per cent higher than before the pandemic, with 1,107 more completed surgeries more than the period from April 2019 to March 2020.

Doctors Manitoba president and vascular surgeon Dr. Randy Guzman told reporters at a news conference over Zoom Thursday that one per cent increase in surgical volume is "still not enough" in the backdrop of five to six per cent population growth in the province since 2019.

"This 1,000-plus [surgeries] is not enough, we still have a lot of work to do," he said. 

Over the last three years, the backlog has soared to 41,267 cases. But factoring in the 1,107 surgeries over pre-pandemic levels performed in the last fiscal year, the cumulative pandemic backlog has been slashed to 40,160 cases.

"That's still a significant number, it's about 40 percent of the total volume [of surgeries] per year or five months of volume," he said. "There is still a significant backlog."

Keir Johnson, a spokesperson for Doctors Manitoba, said "it's very likely" the number of patients waiting to receive surgeries is sitting below 40,160 cases.

"It's very likely that some of the people who are waiting for those surgeries have deteriorated to the point that surgery is no longer an option," Johnson said.

"Some of these people may have passed away while they were waiting for surgery or doctors may have found a different treatment option." 

Recovery has been 'a bit slower': Guzman

Data from the CIHI report shows Manitoba has the second-largest remaining surgery backlog at the moment among all Canadian provinces, except Quebec.

Guzman said there are "many layers" involved in clearing the existing surgical backlog but it boils down to addressing the shortage of staffing and resources in the health-care system, including "having enough family doctors and specialists" and addressing the need for diagnostics and specialized equipment in hospitals.

"Although we are recovering, it has been a bit slower," Guzman said. "Patients are obviously impacted with this." 

Minister of Health Uzoma Asagwara told reporters the NDP government has been working "very hard" to clear the surgery backlog, making sure those waiting the longest on the list for care are "finally getting the surgeries that they need." 

"But we didn't get to where we are overnight," Asagwara said, while blaming the Progressive Conservative government that was in power throughout the pandemic.

Kathleen Cook, the Tory health critic, said the PC's made "significant progress" toward reducing the surgical backlog by implementing a task force in 2021 to cut the pileup of tens of thousands of surgeries, tests and diagnostic procedures made worse during the pandemic. 

"The task force completed over 85,000 diagnostic tests and surgeries," Cook said. 

The diagnostic and surgical recovery task force was shut down last year by the NDP shortly after it came into power. 

"Now there is no plan, and that should be concerning to all Manitobans because the backlog isn't eliminated and it's not going to eliminate itself," Cook said. 

But Asagwara said there was no clarity on how decisions were made inside the task force and the project took "millions upon millions of dollars" in spending without clearing the backlog. 

"We're doing the work of actually listening to experts ... to make sure we're making investments in areas of health care that are going to support Manitobans and having better outcomes,' Asagwara said. 

Last month, Shared Health touted a new information management system to track every surgery in the province and more accurately reflect wait times. 

Manitoba's health-care entity said at the time it would help prioritize people who have been waiting the longest for surgery where possible. 

Doctors Manitoba said in its October 2024 surgergy backlog update that while the information management system is a significant advance in terms of data collection by types of procedure across specialities, it is still "too early" to tell what impact it might be having in helping clear the backlog. 

"We hear from a lot of surgeons in different areas concerned about how long their patients are waiting and the inability for them to get enough OR [operating room] time to meet the demand that they're seeing in their practice," Johnson said. 

Pediatric surgeries still below pre-pandemic levels

Doctors Manitoba said pediatric surgeries in Manitoba were slashed up to 28 per cent during the pandemic and the number of procedures performed on children in the most recent year was still 12 percent lower than between April 2019 and March 2020, according to CIHI data.

During the news conference, Guzman revealed a proposal for a limb preservation clinic at St. Boniface Hospital, which was submitted to the task force the former PC government put in place to reduce the surgical backlog, "wasn't given the go-ahead following the change in government."

Cook said the proposal, which was never publicly announced, is a sign the task force was doing important work before it was disbanded by the NDP.

Asagwara pointed out the task force was the entity that didn't move forward with the proposal.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said in a statement it will "continue to re-evaluate the possibility of the proposal within available resources."