Many British Columbians in pain as orthopedic surgeons raise the alarm on wait times

Amber Nurse has been struggling with a bad knee for two years, hoping she would land a surgery this spring.

So she was devastated to find that she's now on a two-year wait list for an operation in Prince George, in northern B.C.

"This is enough. I have to get it done," she said. "I'm frustrated."

Daily tasks and hobbies have become more painful by the day, says the Fort St. John resident and educational assistant.

"We're kind of just left here and stuck in pain with nothing we can do."

Nurse is among 8,315 patients waiting for knee surgery in B.C. as of March 31, 2022, according to provincial data. That's prompted orthopedic surgeons to issue a warning about what they describe as a "surgical crisis," exacerbated by staffing shortages and a lack of capacity in hospitals.

"These patients are losing their jobs. These patients are getting narcotic addicted, these patients are living in pain, they're getting depressed, and they are the ones who bear the burden of this problem," said Dr. Cassandra Lane Dielwart, president-elect of the British Columbia Orthopaedic Association.

According to the data, surgeries with the highest backlogs during the pandemic include elective or non-urgent total hip and total knee replacements.

"Orthopedics has been hit by closures at a disproportionately high rate compared to all other surgical specialties," Dielwart wrote in a letter to B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix in March.

For example, 158 people are waiting for cranial surgery, 417 are waiting for open heart surgery, and 4,389 are waiting for hip replacement, according to provincial data.

Dielwart adds that the regions with the longest wait times are Prince George, Kamloops and the Lower Mainland.

At the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, in B.C.'s southern Interior, wait lists for orthopaedic surgery have gone up 40 to 50 per cent in the last two years, according to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott Hughes.

He says cancellations remain a daily conversation with patients who come in thinking they are getting surgery only to find out there is not enough staff.