Surgery backlog at hospitals
More than 1,100 surgeries cancelled in P.E.I. because of coronavirus
More than 1,100 surgeries have been cancelled in P.E.I. as the province continues to deal with the fallout of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
On Friday, Health Minister James Aylward presented the numbers in the legislature after several days of questioning from O’Leary-Inverness MLA Robert Henderson.
Aylward said Health P.E.I.’s service reinstatement team is assessing the situation daily as it makes plans to address the backlog.
“At present, the backlog of postponed surgeries are being dealt with carefully as we don’t want to jeopardize our ability to respond to the care for any potential COVID-19 patients, especially with the chance of a second wave,” he said.
As Health P.E.I. prepared for potential cases of COVID-19 and expected hospitalizations from the pandemic, many nonessential procedures were cancelled earlier this spring.
Although there were 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province, none of those people had to be hospitalized.
Aylward provided numbers for 10 different procedures that have been postponed, with ophthalmology services accounting for almost half of them.
In total, there were 491 cancelled ophthalmology surgeries, most of which were for cataracts. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital also had 262 orthopedic surgeries cancelled, which was the second highest number of cancellations on the list.
Prior to Aylward presenting the numbers Friday, Henderson had asked for them several times throughout the week, although the minister had said he would bring them to the house.
During Friday’s question period, Henderson asked how long it will take Health P.E.I. to deal with the backlog.
Aylward responded that it’s no secret COVID-19 created many issues across P.E.I. and the province needed to react to the pandemic.
“I’m alarmed as well at this number, but you know what, I’m sure if you looked at other jurisdictions and saw where they are, they would be in a far worse situation than we are.”
He also said Health P.E.I. is re-evaluating how it is triaging people and what other services can be offered while they await surgery, such as the possibility of physiotherapy for someone who needs a hip or knee replacement.
“Those are the kind of things we are looking at,” he said.
Henderson said he appreciates there are challenges, but he added that no one with COVID-19 has sought medical services in P.E.I.
“Yes, there’s planning. I take there’s a certain amount of weeks that would require that, but it’s time to get this work done here,” he said.