'It's just talk': Patients waiting for surgery take new Manitoba task force to task for lack of timeline

Some Manitobans waiting for surgery say the provincial task force announcement offers them no timeline and no hope on when they can resume their lives again without pain.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced Wednesday the steering committee that would tackle and oversee a growing surgical and diagnostic backlog in the province. The province estimates 30,000 people have had their surgeries delayed due to the pandemic.

The task force will help bring more licensed practical nursing staff to surgery wards, provide monthly updates to Manitobans, negotiate agreements with health-care providers locally and out of province, and identify patients who are ready for procedures and can travel to another jurisdiction if the procedure can be performed there sooner.

But no dates were given Wednesday for when the backlog would be cleared.

"You have no long term plan. Because there is no long term plan," said Wendy Petersen, 57, of Brandon.

She's been waiting for a knee replacement for about nine months.

"The last time I saw my surgeon, he straight up told me it would be 18 months to two years. And they're as frustrated as their patients are," she said.

She said the level of pain she's in fluctuates daily and she can't go on long walks anymore but despite that, she considers herself more fortunate than others on the list because she's still "fairly mobile."

Doctors Manitoba estimates the current diagnostic and surgical backlog is nowmore than 156,000 surgeries and procedures.

"To me that's inhumane, in the best of terms. I know people that are suffering much worse than I am and in much worse conditions than I am, both mentally and physically. I think sometimes people forget how it affects your mental health," she said.

She said she often feelsdepressed, especially because she can't plan for her future and the activities she'd like to do.

"I wonder to myself if it was one of their family members, one of the MLA family members or someone's family members of the premier's office. Would they look at the situation differently. I would certainly hope they would," she said.

'Transparent public reporting'

The government has set aside $50 million to address backlogs and wait times this year. On Wednesday,Gordon announced $8.8 million had been spent on cataract surgeries, echocardiograms and other procedures through other service providers.

The task force intends to launch a public website in 2022 to show data and progress.

Gordon vowed that the task force would be accountable to Manitobans through transparentpublic reporting, with a report coming in early 2022.

"To me it's just talk," said Wilfred Funk, who has been waiting on rotator cuff surgery for a couple of torn tendons in his shoulder since May.

"I can't go to work because of the pain and it bothers me when I sleep.The pain is just incredible," he said.

He said he's done nothing but wait since the moment he injured himself and still doesn't know when his surgery will be.He has little faith in the task force to give him the care or answers he needs.

"They talk about this, they talk about this, nothing goes anywhere. OK, they're going to have a meeting. And then they're going to have a meeting about a meeting and blah, blah, blah," he said.

A primary care provider at a Winnipeg clinic, who spoke to the CBC on condition of anonymity for fear of losing her job, said she feels the task force lacks representation from all services that have wait lists, such as cardiac and gynecology.

The talk needs to stop and people need to stop suffering.- Wendy Petersen

She said the absence of a timeline and targets is "problematic"for the thousands of people waiting, as manyaresuffering both physically and mentally. She said she's disappointed, but not surprised that Wednesday's announcement lacked any details on dates.

"There's no accountability," she said.

Petersen just wants some of her quality of life restored. Though it's expensive and something she knowsmost wouldn't be able to afford, she's considering traveling to Lithuania for her knee replacement surgery. She said she just wants to be able to go for a walk in the park with her partner.

"The task force? I don't know how much longer they're going to talk about the task force and still, there's nothing. The talk needs to stop and people need to stop suffering."

WATCH| Task force head talks about the challenge ahead:

Janet Stewart interviews the head of Manitoba's surgery-backlog task force

3 years ago

Duration 5:44

Dr. Peter MacDonald discusses the challenges he'll face as the head of the task force charged with reducing Manitoba's surgery and diagnostic procedure backlog.