This article was written by Atlantic Briefs Desk for SaltWire. Published April 27, 2022. To access the original article, click here.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association is calling on the provincial government to address surgical backlogs in the province.
In March, the NLMA said that health system shutdowns and cancelled surgeries led to surgeons at referral centres in St. John’s, including the Health Sciences Centre and St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital, to report 6,113 backlogged surgeries.
The NLMA reported an additional 700 backlogged gynecological surgeries not reported in March, pushing the total number of patients the association said are on surgical waitlists to 6,797 as of April 12.
Of those, 205 are cancer surgeries, with the highest being 101 patients who are awaiting urologic cancer surgery. Forty patients are listed as waiting for general cancer surgery
Of 6,592 waitlisted general procedures, 2,950 patients are waiting for orthopaedic surgery.
