Since the COVID-19 outbreak reached Nova Scotia, non-urgent medical procedures have been put on hold because of the pandemic.
But there’s increasing concerns among medical professionals and the public, about the impact that’s having on patients now and the impact it will have on the system, going forward.
With cases of COVID-19 in decline emergency room physician Chris Milburn says it’s time for patients to start getting the surgeries they require.
“We’re delaying surgeries, we’re delaying certain types of other treatments, and even just simple things like physiotherapy and occupational therapy, which have a really beneficial impact on people’s lives,” said Milburn.
As the number of reported cases continues to taper off, the challenge now is finding ways to open the hospital back up.
It’s a fine line, says Milburn but there are also risks for patients waiting for treatments and elective surgeries.
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The longer the patient waits, the more at risk they are for developing further underlying health issues.
“We hurt people if we don’t lock down hard enough and we hurt people if we lock down too hard,” said Milburn. “We hurt a different set of people with those different pulls, but nobody gets off free. There’s no freeway out of this.”
Patients like Robin McGee, who’s eye surgery was canceled by the province ahead of the outbreak, says she needs the surgery to save her sight before undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
“If the patient is exceptional and exceptional measures are required, then due consideration should be given to exceptional cases,” said McGee.
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After consulting the province’s chief medical officer of health and the president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Health Authority, McGee said with a private clinic deeming her eye surgery as essential, they couldn’t stop her from getting the procedure done herself.
McGee says she’ll spend $7,000 to get the eye surgery at a private clinic in Halifax.
“Eyesight is a pearl worth any price, and nobody would hesitate to spend that, even if you didn’t have it,” said McGee.
If left untreated McGee said she would be legally blind in six months and for that reason she couldn’t wait.
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In the meantime, it’s not clear when the province will resume elective surgeries.
Nurse Laura Rogers works with the orthopedic recovery team, but with elective surgeries postponed she was moved to the inpatient COVID-19 unit at the QE ll hospital. The move was made in preparation for COVID-19 outbreak, and one she wasn’t expecting.
“You never start nursing school thinking I’m going to be working during a pandemic,” said Rogers, who has been in the new position for nearly seven weeks no.
She says the initial adjustment at the COVID-19 unit was like dealing with the five-stages of grief.
“(There was) anger and sadness but then coming into work and getting the education, being like, ‘this is OK’ we have the PPE that’s there to protect us,” said Rogers.
Rogers said there’s no timeline for her to move back to the orthopedic recovery team, with the Nova Scotia Health Authority saying their clinical teams continue to prioritize cases.
To date, more than 2,100 patients have had their surgery postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, but priority surgeries continue at a reduced level.
To compare numbers, between March 1 and April 18 nearly 5,020 surgeries have been completed. On the other hand, during that same time period last year there were more than 9,880 surgeries completed.
The NSHA says they continue to assess the COVID-19 situation to determine the safest and most responsible timeline to resume services and at the same time ensure the safety measures necessary to prevent the spread of the virus.
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