B.C. radiologists sound alarm over backlogs as province claims wait times are down

As the province's radiologists raise the alarm about extensive backlogs impacting patients, B.C.'s Ministry of Health is claiming that wait times for medical imaging and even surgeries are shorter than before the pandemic started.

As the province's radiologists raise the alarm about extensive backlogs impacting patients, B.C.'s Ministry of Health is claiming that wait times for medical imaging and even surgeries are shorter than before the pandemic started.

The BC Radiological Society couldn’t provide specific data for how long waits are for medical imaging (including MRIs, CT scans, and ultrasounds) because the Ministry of Health does not make that data public. But, the society says, waits to access the scans are growing due to aging machinery and staffing shortages that have worsened during the pandemic and grown more acute during the Omicron wave.

"There's an email chain going around right now with the breast radiologists in the Lower Mainland saying, 'Can you take our patients?’ And everyone is saying, 'No, we've got our own crazy waitlist,’" said Dr. Charlotte Yong-Hing, who serves as president of the society, as well as medical director of breast imaging at the BC Cancer Agency, while treating patients herself.

“We all work as hard as we can, but there are not enough ultrasound technicians, not enough ultrasound machines, not enough breast radiologists – there just isn't enough capacity."

Dr. Simon Bicknell, who specializes in diagnostic and interventional radiology, pointed out that most surgeons won’t see patients until they have imaging in hand, and that impacts patients facing all sorts of medical challenges.

"If it's an acute inflammatory event, an abscess can develop and by the time they get to the hospital, that abscess might be bigger,” he said. “If the problem is a cancer, if you've put off getting that assessed by your primary practitioner or a specialist, that can change a stage by just sitting on it and waiting for months."

Bicknell emphasized that patients needing urgent emergency scans are getting them right away. However, while the national standard is 30 to 60 days’ wait for most scans, he said he knows many British Columbians are now waiting months.