Patients wait months for Pap test results as labs juggle high demand, staff shortage

After experiencing unusual, unexplained bleeding and two rounds of abnormal Pap tests, Wendy Yen is anxiously awaiting her latest results.

But the 45-year-old Toronto resident learned it could be several months before she finds out, due to backlogs and processing delays at many Canadian laboratories.

The labs screen samples for a wide array of health conditions, including the Pap tests used to spot early warning signs of cervical cancer — a disease that can be deadly, but is often treatable and curable when it's caught early on.

"It's definitely nerve-racking waiting for the results," Yen said.

Delays to get Pap test results are being felt across much of the country. The COVID-19 pandemic played a role in creating a backlog of all kinds of screening tests — but multiple industry insiders told CBC News the problem is made worse by ongoing long-term staffing issues in the Canadian lab sector.

Even before the pandemic, most laboratories were short-staffed, said Michelle Hoad, CEO of the Medical Laboratory Professionals' Association of Ontario, an advocacy group for the province's laboratory workers. 

Now, with more people returning to in-person medical appointments, there's an influx of tests to process, she continued. 

"All the people that haven't gone to their family doctors to potentially get a Pap smear is a good example. Those are all coming into our labs now," she said.

"So we don't have the proper staff in order to manage the demand that's happening from the growth in testing over the past 24 months."

Vancouver-based family physician Dr. Anna Wolak said previously, her patients would get Pap test results back in four to six weeks. 

"Now, we are seeing Pap results coming back in four to six months," she said.

In Toronto, patients at Dr. Iris Gorfinkel's clinic are experiencing waits of at least two months as well. "Everything is backlogged," she said.

Two of Canada's leading lab companies — LifeLabs and Dynacare — told CBC News by e-mail that there are increased turnaround times for Pap tests within their labs, which operate across much of the country.

"Many provinces and countries are also seeing increased turnaround times," wrote Christine Cho, a spokesperson for LifeLabs, which conducts nearly 700,000 annual Pap tests in Ontario alone.