Doctors say Manitoba throne speech did not concretely address surgery backlog

Doctors in Manitoba say the province’s throne speech may have been a missed opportunity.

While there was reassuring language, they say it lacked action. Most notably, they want to know when Manitoba will address a surgical backlog of more than 135,000 procedures.

“We need not only words, but we need tangible actions,” said Dr. Kristjan Thompson, president of Doctors Manitoba.
“Manitobans caught in this massive backlog, they need hope and they need to see action and they need to know that help is on the way.”

Tuesday’s throne speech detailed how removing barriers and delays to urgently needed treatment is one of the “key initiatives” of the government.

But the group Doctors Manitoba says the speech missed a critical point.

“Doctors Manitoba is concerned about the lack of specifics and urgency in the throne speech,” said Thompson. “On one hand, the speech was specific about hiring 20 nurses in the north, and that’s great for folks in rural and remote communities, but there are very few specifics about how the government will clear the staggering backlog of 136,000 Manitobans. That’s 10 per cent of our population.”

Thompson, an emergency medicine physician at St. Boniface Hospital, says he wants to see the government set a hard date to have the backlog cleared.

Outside of the legislature Tuesday, rock music and chants could be heard as members of the University of Manitoba Faculty Association (UMFA) came out in full force to send a message to the government.

Among them was Dan Nagel, an assistant nursing professor at the University of Manitoba. Nagel specializes in community health and says the stakes are incredibly high if front-line workers are not listened to moving forward.

“The spill-out from that is backlogs in things like surgeries, a lot of things, like cancer treatments, palliative care and so fourth,” said Nagel. “And it’s impacting people and in some cases, it’s meaning life-or-death situations.

“A lot more listening has to be done to front-line workers.”

Manitoba’s nurses say throne-speech promises of a “new path and a new direction” where the government works “side-by-side” with everyone rang hollow.

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson says she wants leadership that not only pledges support, but follows through, as their staff shortages reach a critical point.

“Nurses are exhausted,” said Jackson. “They are tired of lip service. Promised employment for new graduates isn’t truth, it’s a mirage. Any nurse seeking employment with adequate qualifications is already employed. What we need now is realistic and meaningful change before our entire system collapses.”