Health-care task force or task farce? By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, May. 1, 2023

Opinion

Time is of the essence when it comes to diagnostic testing and life-altering surgeries. Yet, thousands of Manitobans remain in limbo, suffering through pain and medical anxiety, while the provincial government celebrates dismal progress on health-care wait lists.

Earlier this month, members of the diagnostic and surgical recovery task force convened with media to announce that pandemic-era backlogs had been cut by 30 per cent over the last 16 months.

Although backlogs have been eliminated in 10 key areas of the health system — including for cataract surgeries, ultrasounds and CT scans — task force leadership admitted that clogs persist for many other procedures and that much of its wait time data was guesstimated.

This important task force is quickly becoming a farce.

Days before the media conference, a pair of doctors resigned from the task force over concerns about the province’s handling of wait lists for sleep disorder patients. The specialists claim their proposals for improvements at Misericordia Health Centre sleep disorder centre have been wholly ignored, while more than 6,000 Manitobans await treatment.

Critics of the task force, which was created in December 2021, have pointed to a lack of deadlines, details and funding as issues with the initiative. If Progressive Conservative policymakers are also ignoring the very experts they enlisted to help solve the deep-seated problems plaguing our medical system, then there is even more cause for concern.

Critics of the task force, which was created in December 2021, have pointed to a lack of deadlines, details and funding as issues with the initiative.

While backlogs amassed during the pandemic may be shrinking, Manitoba continues to miss benchmarks for priority procedures, with only 43 per cent of cataract surgeries and 26 per cent of knee replacements happening within nationally accepted timelines. According to those metrics, compiled by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Manitoba has one of the least efficient health-care systems in the country.

That ranking comes as no surprise to those working in the field.

Last week, Manitoba’s NDP and Liberals released a confidential report commissioned by the provincial government, which suggests more than half of Manitoba health-care workers have seriously considered quitting their job. The 51-page draft document, produced by Deloitte last April, describes high levels of stress and burnout exacerbated by systemic factors that existed prior to the pandemic.

“Employee resilience and well-being in the Manitoba health system is at a point where change is needed,” the report states.

From the outset, the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals — members of which voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate this month — has urged the province to address existing staffing issues in its plans to eliminate backlogs and reduce wait times. The Manitoba Nurses Union has voiced similar concerns.

Still, the messaging from Health Minister Audrey Gordon’s office continues to focus on increasing capacity, with no regard for staff who have already reached their breaking point, as the solution for ongoing backlogs. It’s interesting to note that the task force charged with streamlining patient care may also be working beyond its capacity.

“We’re a busy organization,” steering committee lead Dr. Peter MacDonald said during the recent progress update, revealing that the task force has more than 90 projects on the go.

Over the last 16 months, the diagnostic and surgical recovery task force installed by the Progressive Conservatives has only managed to eliminate one thing: speculation about the sorry state of this province’s health-care system. Things are bad and time is running out for the party to show Manitobans a solid solution to sub-par medical care.