TJ News

Hip, knee surgical push isn’t reducing OR time: Horizon

ANDREW WAUGH

Horizon Health Network is disputing doctors’ claims that access to operating rooms (ORs) has been reduced because of the government’s push to improve hip and knee surgical wait times.

Instead, Horizon says, it’s because there’s ongoing shortages of anesthesiologists and nurses.

The issue of access to OR time was raised in the legislature last week by Liberal health critic Rob McKee, who later said he’s heard the complaint from specialists, including gynecologists and obstetricians in Fredericton,“who have had their time (in the operating room) reduced to one day a month ... and the rest of their time has been redirected to hip and knee procedures.”

McKee said he’s heard similar stories from specialists in Moncton and Saint John.

In a statement, New Brunswick Medical Society (NBMS) president Dr. Paula Keating confirmed what McKee said, while noting that access to operating rooms has been a longstanding issue “across all surgical specialties.”

“While the prioritization of hips and knees has enabled orthopaedic surgeons to make progress on this backlog and reduce the waitlist, the focus on this area is in some instances having an impact on the availability of OR time for other specialties,” Keating said.

“The overarching issue is a lack of resources. Due to the shortage of OR nurses and anesthesiologists, some hospitals are operating well below capacity, unable to accommodate as many procedures as would be possible with adequate staffing.

“In order to see the success of the hip and knee project replicated across other specialties, significant investments by government are needed so that surgeons have the resources necessary to increase overall system capacity.”

Health Minister Bruce Fitch said whenever there’s “a change in the surgical allocation,” there’s always complaints.”

“I was aware that there were some changes at The Moncton Hospital on the allocation of (operating room) time, which always causes a problem,” Fitch said. “But again, the triage is being done by the professionals.”

But on Friday, Horizon issued a press release disputing what McKee and the NBMS said.

“Horizon has made significant progress to improve access to hip and knee surgeries, cutting wait times in half since 2020, without impacting OR time for other surgical specialties,” the release read.

“Horizon also remains fully committed to improving OR access and decreasing wait times for all surgical specialties, while adhering to the Provincial Health Plan objective of reducing the waitlist for hip and knee replacement surgery.

“To clarify the recent coverage on Wednesday, Nov. 22, Horizon has been able to significantly reduce wait times and backlogs for hip and knee surgeries, cataract surgeries, as well as meeting national benchmarks for cancer surgery across Horizon.”

Horizon’s press release didn’t comment on the two fields of specialists McKee raised, gynecologists and obstetricians.

But it did point the finger at a labour problem.

“An ongoing shortage of available anesthesiologists has impacted OR availability, however Horizon medical teams are actively working to recruit more anesthesiologists to our organization while also using locums where needed to help alleviate this constraint,” the release read.

“Additionally, Horizon’s HR teams have been working diligently to address ongoing nursing shortages throughout our organization, while introducing enhanced, optimized training for OR nurses through the use of virtual reality simulation.

“This innovative training opportunity has been well received by our nurses, allowing them to feel more confident prior to working in the OR environment, helping ensure the delivery of safe, timely and quality care to our patients.

“We continue to work through our challenges to provide timely and quality care to all patients, and as always, we value the input of health care professionals and the broader community as we strive to enhance the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our system.”

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2023-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://tjnews.pressreader.com/article/281878713131020

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