REPORT: Over 353,000 Postponed Surgeries, Procedures & Consultations Due To COVID-19
- SecondStreet.org gathered FOI data across Canada on postponements
- Evidence suggests some postponed surgeries resulted in patient deaths
Public policy think tank SecondStreet.org released freedom of information responses today from across Canada with data on the number of surgeries, procedures and consultations with specialists that were postponed due to the pandemic.
Nine provinces provided data showing 205,549 postponements. While the Ontario government indicated it had “no records” on the subject, data from the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) has estimated there were 148,364 postponed surgeries in the province. This brings the national total to at least 353,000.
“When COVID emerged, governments postponed hundreds of thousands of non-COVID surgeries, procedures and consultations with specialists,” said SecondStreet.org President Colin Craig. “Not only has that increased waiting lists, it has caused tremendous patient suffering, sometimes even resulting in death.”
Province | Postponements |
BC | 24,287 |
AB | 16,893 |
SK | 23,209 |
MB | 8,391 |
ON | 148,364 |
QC | 70,467 |
NB | 1,562 |
NL | 23,867 |
NS | 35,753 |
PE | 1,120 |
TOTAL: | 353,913 |
“Governments could be much more transparent about patient suffering due to postponed surgeries and procedures,” added Craig. “We know some patients have died from surgical delays, but we really don’t know the extent of the problem.”
To see SecondStreet.org’s policy brief – click here
– GOVERNMENT DATA SOURCES –
To view the responses each government provided, please see the links below:
BC
* Ministry of Health – click here
AB
* Alberta Health Services – click here
SK
* Ministry of Health – click here
MB
* Interlake-Eastern – click here
* Manitoba Shared Health – click here
* Northern Health – click here
* Prairie Mountain – click here
* Southern Health – click here
ON
* Ontario Health – click here (No data)
QC
* Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux – click here
NB
* New Brunswick Department of Health – click here
NL
* Central Health – click here
* Western Health – click here
* Eastern Health – click here
* Labrador-Grenfell – click here
NS
* Nova Scotia Health Authority – click here
PE
* Health PEI – click here
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