Research determining long-term effects of surgery delays in Alberta

CALGARY (CityNews) — As the province scrambles to add more capacity to address the need for critical care, they continue to pull resources from elsewhere.

Alberta Health Services is postponing all surgeries that do not need to be completed in a three-day window. That equates to about 75 per cent of all procedures, including pediatric surgeries.

As more people are impacted by the delays, a Calgary researcher is examining how they affect patients’ long-term health.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we did find, down the road, that we have almost a wave of ill patients who weren’t able to access the care they needed during this period time,” says Khara Sauro, an assistant professor in community health sciences, surgery and oncology at the University of Calgary.

“There is obviously going to be a backlog of surgeries that needs to be done. There’s so much to disentangle but the real big unknown is how big of a problem is that going to be and how long is it going to take us to get back to our baseline.”

She says from the patients she’s interviewed so far, a clear picture of mental health strain has emerged, in addition to the continued physical pain.

“What has come across quite loud and clear has been the mental health impacts of not knowing when their surgery might be. Is there a risk to their health by prolonging the time before surgery?”

Physician Neeja Bakshi says the answer to that question for some, will be yes.

“People are going to have bad outcomes from that.”

She made her comments during a Facebook Live session with other doctors Friday evening, explaining the dire situation the healthcare system is in.

“What we’re doing now might seem like we’re handling the capacity, we’re handling what’s coming in. But we’re handling it at such a high cost, that it’s not going to be tenable for much longer. And when I say much longer, I mean days.”

Sauro hopes her study can provide a clear and factual picture to policymakers of the impacts of surgery delays. If you’ve had your surgery delayed and are interested in joining the study, you can reach Sauro at kmsauro@ucalgary.ca.