Need surgery? Here's how long you'll wait

Need surgery? Here's how long you'll wait

Here is another reason why we DO NOT want socialized medicine.

Susan Warner swallows addictive painkillers every day to ease the crippling pain she endures waiting for knee-replacement surgery.

One of her knees gave out in October and the Calgary woman has been waiting for the surgery since. However, Warner, 51, is lost in a lineup for the operation at the Rockyview General Hospital that she says could last 18 months.

"It's inhuman. The quality of my life is horrible and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it," she said Tuesday.

Waiting lists are crippling Canada's health-care system and frustrating patients and doctors alike. The Canadian Medical Association released a 10-point prescription on Tuesday that targets waiting lists for surgery and diagnostic procedures like MRIs and CT scans.

It proposes setting benchmark waiting times for surgery, hiring more health professionals, and expanding options for Canadians to get treatment in other jurisdictions.

In Calgary, as the city expands, so does the pressure to get people treated at local hospitals in a reasonable amount of time.

There are about 25,000 Calgarians waiting for surgery or scans at the city's four major hospitals. And the Calgary Health Region estimates waiting times for surgery are growing at an astronomical rate of 12 to 18 per cent every year.

Alberta Health's website says waiting times in Calgary are as follows:

- 62 weeks for a hip replacement at Peter Lougheed Centre;

- 62 weeks for general surgery at Rocky- view General Hospital;

- 30 weeks for MRI scans at Foothills Medical Centre;

- 54 weeks for knee replacement surgery at Rockyview General Hospital;

- 11 weeks for cardiac surgery at Foothills Medical Centre.

For Warner, the wait has come with a heavy price. She says she has become addicted to painkillers that are a daily staple to help her hobble through her workday.

Warner's a photographer, a job that keeps her on her feet most of the day, with or without her cane.

"I know I'm addicted. When I wake up in the morning, I'm shaking and have headaches," she said with a sigh. "I'll have to deal with that after the fact."

In their report, Canada's doctors and nurses are sending a direct message to premiers meeting this week in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., for three days of talks largely on Canada's ailing health-care system.

In its report, titled The Taming of the Queue, the Canadian Medical Association and Canadian Nurses Association argue the Canada Health Act should be revamped to help Canadians get quicker access to better health care.

Waiting for care is part of the "normal functioning of any health system," the report says, but warns excessive waits can have "significant health and economic impacts."

During the June election, Prime Minister Paul Martin identified waiting lists as the top issue facing the medicare system.

He vowed to spend $4 billion over the next five years to reduce waiting times, including focusing on five specific areas: cancer care, joint replacement, heart surgery, diagnostic imaging and sight restoration surgery.

The medical association's report proposes a 10-point plan to fix waiting lists, including:

n Establishing reasonable waiting times for different procedures;

n Allowing hospital funding to expand or contract depending on pressures, so service delivery isn't constrained by budget caps;

n Aggressively recruiting and retaining health-care professionals;

n Prioritizing services and ailments through consultation with the public and health-care providers;

n Improving the ability of Canadians to seek care in other provinces or out of the country.

The association's president said sustainable reforms -- not just more cash -- should be the premiers' focus if they hope to wean the system off its crutches.

"Access to health care in a timely manner is job No. 1 and Canadians expect nothing less," said Dr. Sunil Patel. "If (the premiers) focus on dollars alone, then we have lost everything. Canadians will lose confidence in their health-care system."

The report does say the system needs money.

"There is no doubt that the availability of resources does come to bear on the timeliness and accessibility of health-care services," the report says.

The Calgary Health Region has thrown hundreds of millions of dollars into expediting care for residents.

In February, the CHR announced a $450-million plan to open new beds and operating rooms, and expand emergency and intensive care units at the Foothills Medical Centre, Peter Lougheed Centre and Rocky-view General Hospital.

"Our longest waiting lists are in orthopedics and general surgery," said Tracy Wasylak, the CHR's vice-president of surgical services. "We're hoping to put resources into both of those programs this year to drop those waiting lists."

Sick of waiting for her pain to be eased, Warner, meanwhile, said she looked to Montana to expedite the surgery. However, the procedure would cost $25,000 -- leaving her to wait and hope in Canada.

"It's brutal. I'm in constant pain," Warner said. "I can't work to full capacity. It's difficult to function."

- - -

Get in line . . .

Waiting periods for surgical procedures at Calgary hospitals:

Hips, knees, bones, joints and muscles: 20 to 62 weeks

MRI scans: 17 to 31 weeks

General surgery (removal of gall bladder, hernia, lumps, cysts, varicose veins): 23 to 62 weeks