NL Health Services aware wait times are above benchmarks
Priority has been to concentrate on ‘urgent and emergent patients’
In 2021, Mount Pearl resident Angela Tetlow started experiencing severe back issues.
“One day I woke up in excruciating pain and nothing helped,” said Tetlow.
“I went to my then family doctor and was given pain relievers, muscle relaxers and medicated cream, none of which helped.”
Despite many visits to her family doctor, her condition continued to worsen, Tetlow said.
CONSTANT PAIN
“I was in constant, agonizing and debilitating pain, to the point that I was spending my days lying on my stomach with pillows propped underneath me,” said Tetlow.
“Because my prescriptions barely numbed the pain, I asked my doctor for some kind of medical imaging to determine the issue.”
Her doctor said she didn’t meet the criteria, but due to her pain, he scheduled her for a CT anyway.
“It revealed that I had two bulging discs, a herniated disc, and significant nerve root impingement,” said Tetlow.
IN NEED OF MRI
Due to her results, it was suggested she have an MRI, but because her doctor couldn’t issue the referral, she needed to see a neurosurgeon. In January 2022, she received the MRI referral, but it wasn’t scheduled until February 2026.
Because of the wait, Tetlow has availed of physiotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture and massage therapy to alleviate her symptoms.
While her condition has improved some, she still fears that she may have permanent nerve damage.
“I’m not sure if I’ll ever be completely free of sciatica,” said Tetlow.
“It may be possible to correct the pressure on the nerve root, but at this point, I fear the resulting damage may be permanent.”
‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’
Tetlow isn’t the only one who has these types of fears.
Judy Boone of St. John’s is also suffering from mobility issues and in need of an MRI. Due to the lengthy wait times, Boone won’t see the inside of an MRI until April 9, 2027.
“I was originally scheduled for July 12, 2024, but in May of 2023, I received a letter rescheduling the appointment,” said Boone.
“This is not good enough.”
The pain she endures has affected the way she moves. She fears that by the time 2027 arrives, she will be in a wheelchair.
“I realize we have a shortage of physicians, but this is ridiculous,” said Boone.
‘UPSET IS NOT THE WORD’
Another Mount Pearl resident, Linda Penny, currently fears for her 76-year-old mother’s life. Penny’s mother, Charlotte, needs an MRI.
She added that no one, especially seniors, should have to wait this long for an MRI.
“My mom will be dead before she sees a doctor,” said Penny.
Penny’s mother still has a two-year wait.
“Upset is not the word,” said Penny.
NOWHERE NEAR BENCHMARKS
Dr. Angela Pickles, the provincial clinical chief of medical imaging for NL Health Services, said she was aware of the long wait times, particularly for non-urgent MRI patients, before they were reported by The Telegram.
Pickles said she also knew that they were nowhere near meeting the benchmarks set by the Canadian Association of Radiologists.
Those benchmarks say patients should not have to wait more than 60 days for a nonurgent scan or more than 30 days for a semi-urgent scan.
Urgent cases should receive access to an MRI within seven days and emergency cases should receive access within 24 hours
THE PRIORITIZATION SYSTEM
“My priority has been to try to ensure that we were getting in our urgent and emergent patients at the cost of less urgent requests,” said Pickles.
Pickles said a prioritization system was developed during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns to ensure that urgent cases received prompt attention.
“This doesn’t pertain just to MRI, this is to CT, to ultrasound, to nuclear medicine. This is across the whole board,” she said.
“During COVID, we were trying to make sure that only the patients that had something were coming into the hospital.”
‘PROBLEM-SOLVING TOOL’
But what deems one case more urgent than another?
“MRIS generally are used as a tool to help further characterize an already known abnormality. There are instances where it’s used for screening, but the majority of times it is used to determine if somebody has cancer, to determine if somebody has a liver lesion,” said Pickles.
“So, when we don’t have a known cause, that’s when they unfortunately end up at a lower priority.”
It’s a hard thing to balance, she said.
“MRI is a great tool, but it’s not the right tool for everybody’s underlying diagnosis. It’s more of a problem-solving tool to help further delineate the treatment, prognosis, of a patient with an already known disease,” she added.
INCREASED HOURS
For people such as Tetlow, Boone and Penny, who know they need an MRI and are waiting, Pickles said machines are now operating on weekends to address the backlog.
But, she said, the shortage of MRI technologists and support staff remains a challenge in utilizing the extended hours.
While Pickles said she agrees with remarks from Health Minister Tom Osborne and NAPE president Jerry Earle on education and retaining graduates, she sees other solutions, such as hiring technologist assistants.
“By hiring these positions, they can help with some of the daily tests (and) help to free up MRTS, allowing them to concentrate on the imaging part of the job,” she said.
“Having someone else, someone who can aid in this but doesn’t have the full scope of an MRT job, allows for people to get their tests done and allows for us to not burn out our staff.”