NDP leader says growing surgery list is premier’s fault

Donna Wagar has been waiting to be scheduled for surgery since she was diagnosed with gallstones in late-August.

Last week, she went to a walk-in clinic, where the doctor who saw her wrote a letter to her surgeon recommending surgery for Wagar soon.

Wagar is in pain most days, in her back and ribs. She has been experiencing bloating, frequent urinating and other symptoms, and was put on extra medication after her visit to the clinic.

“I’ve just been waiting since I was diagnosed,” Wagar said.

But her operation is listed as elective, which means Wagar will have to continue waiting for her chance for surgery.

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili said wait times have been growing in the province since Premier Scott Moe came to power, but especially since the fourth wave of COVID-19 hit. It could be another six months before Wagar has her procedure done.

Even once surgeries are resumed, the volume of how many surgeries are going to be completed is up in the air. The Ministry of Health reported being at 95 per cent with surgeries in summer 2021, a number that did not address the backlog from previous waves of the pandemic.

“How are they going to get beyond and deal with the huge backlog?” Meili asked.

“These have huge implications on people’s lives, having people waiting, and we’ve had zero implication that the government has a plan to catch up, let alone resume.”

Meili said Wagar’s case is an example of someone waiting for an “elective” surgery that isn’t truly something she can wait for.

“(She’s) someone who is in a lot of pain, losing weight, wants to be looking for work (and) isn’t able to do so,” Meili said.

Meili said the government hasn’t shared a plan for how it plans to catch up on the delayed surgeries and has failed to acknowledge how seriously it has failed residents of the province.

If the NDP was in office, Meili said his party would have listened to experts in the first place to help prevent a fourth wave and the overwhelming of ICUs in the province. Now that the province is in this situation, he said a greater investment in the public health system needs to be made, including helping patients gain access to diagnostics and surgery.

He admitted the path towards this is complicated, and he said work needs to be done in conjunction with Saskatchewan Health Authority leadership to find out how to efficiently use the current health system to meet these needs.

Meili said he does not want to see a private for-profit care system implemented in Saskatchewan, which would make it even harder for people like Wagar to cover their surgery.

“This has a huge impact on people’s lives. The hundreds of deaths — nearly 900 people have lost their lives (due to COVID) — this is extremely tragic (and) was avoidable,” Meili said.

“We need to understand that it’s not just COVID-19. There’s so many other effects.”