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By Dylana Kneeshaw

SURGERY RENEWAL

Progress report shows majority of postponed surgeries have now been delivered to B.C patients

Sep 1, 2020 | 3:10 PM

VICTORIA — After postponing elective surgeries in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the B.C Government says progress has been made in catching up.

In a release today (Sept. 1), Health Minister Adrian Dix says a recent report shows surgeries have been completed for 66 per cent of the patients who had their procedures postponed. (11,294 of the 17,154 patients)

“Our first report from May to June showed that we were making steady gains in the surgical renewal plan with a promising trajectory,” states Dix. “This remains true today, despite now facing down an increase in COVID-19 cases. We are almost back to our regular timelines for surgeries, with more British Columbians getting the needed surgeries to resume their lives.”

He adds that the time it takes to perform surgeries is almost back to normal. During the first few months of the COVID-19 response, surgeries took 26 per cent longer to complete.

The monthly progress reports identifies progress made in patient focus, surgery increases, and increasing essential personnel. This second report covers June 26 to July 23 and compares it to the same period last year.

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Report highlights include:

• By Aug. 23, 2020, an additional 22,645 calls were made to patients to see if they were ready to reschedule their surgery, bringing the number of patients called since May 7 to 85,345.
• 904 more surgeries were performed than were performed in the same time frame last year.
• A 6% increase in operating room hours was achieved compared to the same time frame last year.
• There were 25,500 scheduled and unscheduled surgeries completed, a 4% increase over the same time frame last year.
• 7,368 urgent surgeries were completed, a 4% increase over the same time frame last year.
• 2,300 non-urgent surgeries were completed for patients waiting longer than twice their target wait – more than double the number compared to the same time frame last year.
• Hip surgeries increased by 4%, knee surgeries by 4% and dental surgeries by 2%, compared to the same time frame last year.
• Seven additional anesthesiologists and general practitioner anesthesiologists (GPAs) were recruited, bringing the number of recruited since April 1, 2020, to 38 – 33 anesthesiologists and five GPAs.
• An additional 49 perioperative registered nurses, seven perioperative licensed practical nurses, 13 post-anesthetic recovery registered nurses and 24 medical device reprocessing technicians were hired.
• This brings the number of perioperative registered nurses to 160, the number of perioperative licensed practical nurses to 13, the number of post-anesthetic recovery registered nurses to 73 and the number of medical device reprocessing technicians recruited since April 1, 2020, to 59.
• Government is working with staff, unions, and the Health Employers Association of B.C. to determine how best to extend daily, and initiate Saturday and Sunday, operating room hours. These times have historically not been used for scheduled surgeries.