Long waits for breast health care persist in Sask. 1 year after plan announced
CBC
Nearly a year into the Saskatchewan government's plan to improve breast health care, the province's largest health-care union says staffing shortages and long waits have not let up.
Bashir Jalloh, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5430 in Regina, said diagnostic technicians have been overworked and unable to provide timely care.
"We feel guilty telling patients to go back, but there's nothing you can do because the system is so overloaded," he said. "Even the ministry's [wait-time] target that they are talking about is not being met."
Last March, the Saskatchewan Party government announced its plan to streamline breast cancer care after backlogs grew larger. It includes spending $3.6 million on a new breast health centre in the province's capital that is to open this spring.
The government has been sending patients to private clinics in Calgary to reduce wait times. Earlier this month, the contract for out-of-province care was extended for another year — a move the government said is temporary.
Jalloh said the government is paying more to send patients to Calgary than it would by having those services offered in Saskatchewan. The province covers travel expenses up to $1,500 per patient.
"We want to increase capacity of health-care workers in Saskatchewan, not sending them to other provinces when we can do it here," he said.
Jalloh said the province also needs to make sure the breast health centre is fully staffed.
"You can build all these places, but if you are not committed to providing the staff and retaining them, it's just an empty building," he said.
Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill was not available for an interview. His ministry said in a statement it's working to hire more staff, including highly skilled radiologists, to ensure breast cancer patients have timely access to treatment.
It also said it's looking to add more biopsy and diagnostic procedures in Saskatoon and Moose Jaw.
"The Saskatchewan Health Authority has increased the fees paid to breast radiologists to support recruitment and retention efforts in the province," the ministry said, adding the province has spent $300 million on an action plan to improve the health-care system.
As of mid-January, the ministry said about 472 patients had diagnostic procedures in Calgary. That program has brought wait times down to a clinically recommended target of three weeks or less, it added.
Opposition NDP health critic Vicki Mowat said she hopes the new Regina centre reduces wait times and that the province takes a hard look at how it can prevent staff from leaving the profession or moving to other provinces.
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