'Years in pain': Residents affected by surgical backlog in Sask. highlighted by NDP
The Saskatchewan NDP called on the provincial government to act on surgical and diagnostic wait times while highlighting one of the thousands of people affected by the issue.
The tens of thousands of Saskatchewan residents suffering due to surgical and diagnostic wait times were the focus at the legislature on Wednesday.
“36,000 Saskatchewan people are waiting for surgery and they’re more than just numbers,” Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck said.
“All of us know someone - our mom or dad, kids, neighbours, relatives - who is not getting surgery and living in pain because of it. Saskatchewan people deserve quality healthcare when they need it.”
One of those affected by the backlog, Jolene Van Alstine, was present at the legislature.
Van Alstine has lived with Parathyroid Hyperplasia for over six years. Suffering from abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure as well as an increased risk of bone fractures, Van Alstine needs care that she hasn’t been able to access.
“She needs to see a specialist, her condition can be treated, but Jolene hasn’t been able to access the care and the treatment she so desperately needs,” Beck said during Question Period.
According to the NDP, Van Alstine has been told she’ll have to wait another two years for a specialist appointment before she can be placed on a surgery wait list.
Everett Hindley, the minister of rural and remote health, told reporters that the government would be looking into Van Alstine’s situation.
“In this specific case we’d want to look at all the details around Jolene’s case in terms of what’s been done with the referral process,” he explained.
“That’s not an avenue that where we interfere with on a political level, but we want to ensure that all the steps have been followed.”
Hindley explained that the government has been working to increase the number of health-care personnel in the province to increase availability for patients.
“That’s why we’re doing everything we can to make sure we’re bringing more health-care workers into the system so we are able to handle more of these cases on a more timely basis,” he said.
“It is very competitive out there. That’s why we put forth a number of incentives.”
To assist in the process, the NDP have called for revenues from high resource prices to be used.
“Sadly, Jolene’s story is not unique. Tens of thousands of people are having to choose between waiting years in pain or paying thousands of dollars for treatment elsewhere,” NDP MLA Vicki Mowat said.
“We urgently need to invest windfall revenues to get more medical specialists to shorten the wait for a diagnosis that is holding many people back from getting the procedures they desperately need.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.