Patients' 'lives ruined' as hip surgery waits grow

Two osteoarthritis patients strugglingwithconstantpain are speaking out in frustration about increasingly long waits to get hip replacement surgery.

"Its been absolutely horrific," said Julie Bennett, 55, a mother of four and home-care worker from Kamloops, B.C.

"I am in constant pain every day. And my life is slowly slipping away."

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"Its not tolerable," said Vancouver resident Chiara Borello, 85. "Its not livingthat I stay like this - waiting. Its terrible."

Government statistics and physician surveys suggest wait times for joint replacements have increased or stayed the same in most Canadian provinces in the last five years - despite countless government promises to address the problem.

"Im very angry. I dont understand whats going on here. I really dont. Its not like this is a new problem," said Bennett, who is among more than 3,000 people in B.C. currently waiting for new hips. "There are lives ruined."

"My mom is not suffering because there is nothing we can do," said Borellos daughter Renata, "This is the type of suffering that could be resolved right now."

Demand up, waits grow

Among larger provinces, statistics showB.C.s increasing wait times are the longest twice as long as in Ontario, where earlier wait-time improvements have also slipped. Demand is up everywhere.

Among all provinces, only Saskatchewan showed significant, consistent reductions in wait times since 2009.

Bennett was referred for surgery on herright hip in November of 2013 and said shes been told she wont get in until early in 2016. She said her joint has deteriorated so muchshe is unable to work or even function without strong narcotic painkillers.

"I am losing income. Eventually I wont be able to work at all. I never dreamt that Id be in this position."

Her local hospital, Royal Inland, has the longest waits in the province, significantly higher than average.

Wheelchair next, patient fears

Overall, B.C.'swait times vary wildly, depending on the surgeon.The government figures indicate mosthip patients wait from six months to a year and a half - and that doesn't include the initial waits to get in to see a surgeon.

"I am eventually going to end up in a wheelchair, if I dont start getting these things addressed," said Bennett who added her other hip is also deteriorating.

Chiara Borello was told she needed a new hip in January, but her first appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in Vancouver isnt until next month.

Her daughter said she was only able to get that booked after she was taken to hospital by ambulance, in unbearable pain.

"Watching her suffer just makes me cry," said Renata Borello.

Hospitalized for pain

She said her mom was put ina dementia ward in Vancouver General Hospital for two weeks even though she has no cognitive impairments.

"They just kept trying new drugs.It was always about pain management. Not about pain resolution. Or removing the cause of it," said Renata.

The elderly woman said she would rather die than spend several more months taking incapacitating painkillers.

"If I drop dead, thats fine. But I wont take any more of that poison. Thats too much poison," said Chiara.

The Fraser Institute is the only Canadian organization that has tracked national wait times over two decades.

Public complacency cited

The author of its annual report said he believes public complacency acceptance of the unacceptable - is a big reason why most provinces have allowed wait lists to languish.

"We are starting to accept that its OK to wait a really long time. We are starting to accept that its OK for your situation to deteriorate, because that is just the price of a universal health care system. Its not. There are several universal health care systems that do not have these long wait times," said Bacchus Barua.

He said Saskatchewans improvements are the likely result of recent changes there.

"One is a pool referral system - where they connect patients with the doctors that have the lowest wait times," said Barua. "Also, they are starting to contract with third-party private providers inside the public system."

B.C.s minister of health said not enough co-ordinated OR time, nursing staff and anesthesiologists to meet the demand is the main problem there.

Consultations delay action

"I have asked our provincial surgical advisory committee to look at this situation because I think we can do better and thats a matter of co-ordinating services between physicians between specialists and the hospitals and health authorities," said TerryLake.

The province recently put out a policy paper that, ironically, said B.C. has an oversupply of orthopedic surgeons. It calls for consultation, which will take more time.

"Stop making excuses and get on with addressing the issues," said Bennett. "We have to start speaking up and saying this situation is just not acceptable anymore."

"I cannot have my mother suffer indefinitely waiting for some magical moment on some fictitious wait list for her to be attended to," said Renata Borello.

Source: Fraser Institute. Note: Data for small provinces, such as PEI,is less reliable due to small sample sizes.

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