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

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Peggy

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 COVID-19 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 from April 2023 to March 2024 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 COVID-19, with 1,107 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 Monday that one per cent increase in surgical volume is “still not enough” in the backdrop of five to sex 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 between April 2023 to March 2024, the cumulative pandemic backlog has been slashed to 40,160 cases.

A man with short hair, black-framed glasses, a dark suit and bluish neck tie stands behind a lectern with a microphone. — President of Doctors Manitoba Dr. Randy Guzman said Manitoba said there are ‘many layers’ involved in clearing the existent surgical backlog but it boils down to addressing the shortage of staffing and resources in the health-care system. (Doctors Manitoba/Zoom)

“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 that 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.”

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 an October 2024 surgergy backlog update that while it 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.

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 the backlog update.

Meanwhile, the CIHI report found that the volume of surgeries performed on seniors “rebounded to pre-pandemic levels” by March 2024.

“The lingering impact of pandemic surgical disruptions are still being felt through an equity lens,” Doctors Manitoba said.

The organization said rural patients have still not “regained pre-pandemic access to surgery,” while the number of surgeries in the lowest income brackets still sits below pre-pandemic levels.

Surgical volume in urban centres and among patients in the highest income brackets showed recovery in the more recent year, with more surgeries performed on these groups between April 2023 and March 2024 than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are recovering, it has been a bit slower and we still have some work to do,” Guzman said.