'Distressing' surgical backlog likely to grow in N.S., says cardiac surgeon

A Nova Scotia surgeon says surgical wait times are likely to grow as physicians are starting to diagnose more patients with diseases that have progressed significantly compared to before the pandemic.

As of Friday, Nova Scotia Health said there were 26,300 Nova Scotians on a wait-list for surgery in the province. 

That's down slightly from an update in March, but Dr. Greg Hirsch says that number does not reflect the real surgical need in the province.

"What's coming to the operating room, what's coming through the emergency room door, and what's coming into acute care beds is more advanced disease than usual," said Hirsch, a cardiac surgeon and the medical director for the preoperative network at Nova Scotia Health.

He said that's in part because patients were reticent to get care, but also because of overcrowded hospitals and a lack of staff.

Hirsch has been voicing concerns about delaying treatment throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Now hospitals are seeing the problem first-hand and Hirsch expects surgical wait-lists in some zones to continue growing.

"Yes, I expect broadly, the numbers to go up before they go down," he said.

"People are waiting too long for their procedures. I'll just say it. People are waiting too long for their procedures and that can negatively impact their outcomes. So if they're noticing symptoms are worse, please reach out to surgeon's offices if you're on a wait-list."

Hirsch said while surgical offices are stressed too, they need to know if a patient's condition is worsening and if they need to be placed higher on the wait-list.

"[Surgeons will] turn every stone possible to get you done before disease advances to a point where we can't get the result we hoped to," he said.

Nova Scotia was grappling with long lists before the pandemic. In February 2020, there were 24,500 people waiting for surgeries, according to Nova Scotia Health. 

Hirsch works in the cardiology department at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax where the backlog is starting to move. 

Other areas, namely the western health zone, is "significantly worse compared to a month ago," he said.

Issues including a lack of beds and staffing are still causing operations to be pushed back. Hirsch said he's had a few occasions where procedures had to be cancelled minutes before they were scheduled to begin.