Election promises alone can’t save Manitoba health-care

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/09/2023 (755 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What if it’s broken and can’t be fixed?

In all the election campaign pledges all of the parties are making to fix the Manitoba health-care system, it’s the one question that nobody wants to face.

What if years of fiscal austerity, along with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have drained so much capacity from the system no amount of money can fix things?

Make no mistake, there is a very real possibility things have gotten that bad. Case in point: pediatric surgery.

A report released Monday by the Conference Board of Canada called attention to the unconscionably long wait times the nation’s children are facing for non-urgent surgeries.

The study found only slightly more than one-third of non-emergent (elective) pediatric surgeries were being done within accepted wait times; in some areas, such as spinal surgery, more than half of children were waiting beyond accepted wait times.

There is no data from Manitoba in the report.

Right now, pediatric spinal surgeries, for example, are all referred to private clinics out of province. A provincial official suggested Manitoba would likely experience the same delays as other provinces.

The Conference Board does see room for optimism in this area; a combination of organizational reforms and efforts to train and recruit more medical professionals bodes well for the future. Still, when you read the entire report, it’s hard not to be concerned about the future of health-care.

All of which brings us back to the 2023 Manitoba election campaign.

All three major parties are pitching plans to increase capacity and shorten wait times in all areas of health-care. Those plans all focus, in one way or the other, on the need to recruit more nurses and doctors, including specialists.

What if years of fiscal austerity, along with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have drained so much capacity from the system no amount of money can fix things?

On the positive side of the ledger, the parties have correctly identified the first and most pressing issue: the critical need for more medical professionals to perform more diagnostic and surgical procedures and to help ensure timely treatment in acute settings.

It is on this second point — shortage of staff — that there are concerns pledges to spend more money may not be enough.

The incumbent PCs have acknowledged the shortage and need to recruit and retain staff. However, the Tory government has been trying to crack the code on physician and nurse recruitment for the better part of two years and has yet to make meaningful progress.

The Tories claim to have committed $200 million to address the problem, and further claimed they had added hundreds of new doctors and nurses.

However, when pressed to provide a net number (accounting for those who left Manitoba or went to work in the private system) no answer was forthcoming.

Realizing voters are keenly concerned about unreasonably long waits for basic elective procedures, the NDP have carpet-bombed the general election campaign with pledges to recruit and retain more staff, alleviate wait times, but also to expand capacity by reopening three Winnipeg emergency departments closed by the PC government.

However, it is worth noting many of the foundational issues that led to the staff shortage were in place when the NDP last governed (losing power in 2016).

However, it is worth noting many of the foundational issues that led to the staff shortage were in place when the NDP last governed (losing power in 2016).

For example, the province is currently spending tens of millions of dollars a year to hire private-sector contract nurses to work in hospitals. Although the situation has grown much more dire under the Tory watch, the practice of using private nurses to augment the public system began under the NDP.

Are there any significant differences between what the two parties — the only two with a chance of forming government — are promising?

Not really. The difference may come from the way doctors and nurses assess the sincerity of the pledges.

There is no doubt the Tories have worn out their welcome with health-care professionals in general and nurses in particular.

There is no doubt the Tories have worn out their welcome with health-care professionals in general and nurses in particular.

Combine the funding austerity practiced from 2016, and the botched reconfiguration of Winnipeg hospitals, and it’s hard to imagine nurses wanting to come back into a public system managed by Tories for any amount of money.

Does that mean the NDP can do what the Tories have been unable to accomplish? Not necessarily.

There is a very real chance the thousands of Manitoba nurses who have retired, left the province or gone to work for private agencies won’t come back for any amount of love or money. If it forms government, the NDP would be trying to reverse what is, in essence, decades of neglect and mismanagement in health-care human resources.

The NDP are using talking points taken directly out of recommendations from groups such as Doctors Manitoba and the Manitoba Nurses Union, many of which talk about a change in culture, along with additional funding. Support from the leadership of both groups will be essential if a new NDP government needs some goodwill.

And, to be frank, the Tories are so reviled by health-care professionals any other party in power might be considered an upgrade.

Manitoba’s health-care system is slowly but surely bleeding out. It would be nice to know, whatever party wins Oct. 3, a plan is put in place as soon as possible to stop the bleeding.

dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com

Dan Lett
Columnist

Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986.  Read more about Dan.

Dan’s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press’ editing team reviews Dan’s columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.