Documents Show B.C. Cancer Deaths a Mystery

Think tank SecondStreet.org released today a freedom of information (FOI) response from the B.C. government that suggests no one knows how many patients died the previous year while waiting for cancer-related health services. The revelation comes on the heels of many news stories about patients dying while waiting for cancer over the past year in B.C.

Since 2018, SecondStreet.org has been examining nation-wide government statistics on patients dying while waiting for health services, released in annual Died on a Waiting List reports.

The government’s FOI response notes that when it comes to chemotherapy and radiation treatment, BC Cancer’s “information systems do not consistently or reliably capture the reasons for patients who are removed from waitlists.” Data on patients dying while waiting for cancer-related surgeries is either not tracked or is lumped in with other types of surgical waiting list deaths and noted as “other.”

“There’s quite a double standard in B.C. when it comes to health care,” said SecondStreet.org President Colin Craig. “If someone falls at work and receives so much as a bruise, the business has to file a WorkSafeBC report to inform the government. But if a patient dies because the government took too long to provide chemo or radiation treatment, this type of problem isn’t tracked or disclosed. It’s almost as if the government’s health care system isn’t accountable.”

To see the FOI response from Provincial Health Services Authority – click here.