Nothing independent about Stefanson’s diagnostic and surgical task force

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/06/2023 (856 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

So much for keeping Manitobans up to date on surgical and diagnostic wait times.

When the Stefanson government launched its diagnostic and surgical recovery task force in 2021, it pledged to provide Manitobans with monthly updates on wait times, wait lists and the number of procedures completed each month. The task force also promised it would expand the number of procedures it tracks and provide the public with regular updates on those services.

“This is the first phase of the dashboard, with additions and improvements to come as more data becomes available,” diagnostic and surgical recovery task force provincial director David Matear said when the dashboard was launched Oct. 27. “What we will be doing is developing a plan for updating this dashboard and adding additional information, additional services, as we have data which is reliable.”

Eight months later, no new services have been added and the updates on wait times have become less frequent. When the task force first started publishing wait-time data, the reporting lag period was just under two months. It’s now almost three months.

The most recent wait-time data available on the task force dashboard is from March. It shows wait times for hip and knee surgery were higher that month than they were in December. Wait times for orthopedic surgery have been trending in the wrong direction. It may be why the Stefanson government is not eager to release the most recent statistics.

When asked if government plans to update the dashboard any time soon, a provincial spokesperson wrote in an email that it’s expected to be updated next week. There was no explanation for why the reporting lag time has been getting longer.

“The dashboard is updated approximately every six weeks, so it does not provide real-time information,” the spokesperson wrote in response to a request for more information. “Timing may vary as data is collected across multiple sources and must be collated, summarized and verified before being posted.”

That doesn’t explain why the data collection process is now taking about 50 per cent longer than it was last year.

Manitoba taxpayers are shelling out millions of dollars to pay for a task force that has become another layer of health-care bureaucracy. The task force has its own budget and funds some surgical procedures directly, including at local hospitals. Yet, the public is not getting regular updates on what value it’s getting for that money, if any. Meanwhile, Manitobans continue to wait months, sometimes years, for basic medical procedures such as knee, hip and cataract surgery.

No one is expecting real-time data on surgical and diagnostic wait times from government. But a three-month lag is unacceptable.

Instead of providing up-to-date data on wait times, the task force has been holding so-called “progress report” news conferences where they make vague claims about reducing backlogs without providing any data to support them.

The last one they held was on May 31, when task force officials claimed most backlogs from the COVID-19 pandemic have either been cleared or substantially reduced. No data was released to break down wait times or cases completed for those procedures. Nor was any information provided to show how many people are on those wait lists and how the numbers may have changed over time. It was political messaging designed to create the impression that the Stefanson government is making progress on reducing wait times.

That’s been the problem with the task force from the beginning. It’s a political body controlled by government and managed by cabinet and its communications staff. It is not an independent agency focused solely on medical outcomes as was originally advertised. If it were, it wouldn’t need government’s permission to speak or to release information about wait times.

When Dr. Peter MacDonald, a highly respected orthopedic surgeon, was appointed chair of the task force’s steering committee, I pointed out that he publicly endorsed Premier Heather Stefanson when she ran for the Progressive Conservative party leadership to replace former premier Brian Pallister in 2021. His appointment created a conflict. Would Manitobans get Peter MacDonald the surgeon to head a non-partisan task force, one that would operate free of politics? Or would Manitobans get Peter MacDonald, who was actively involved in partisan politics by endorsing a party leadership candidate and may be looking out for the political welfare of the person he backed?

Given the politicization of this new layer of government bureaucracy, it’s hard to tell.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca