The NDP says the Saskatchewan Party has failed to address surgical wait times in the province.
NDP Leader Ryan Meili said he will deal with increasing wait times by building a new $60-million surgery and outpatient centre in Regina if his party forms government in the upcoming election.
“People don’t want to worry about whether they’ll be able to get the surgery they desperately need,” Meili said Wednesday in a statement.
“With wait lists growing and fewer surgeries performed this year than last year, it’s clear that Scott Moe’s plan for deep cuts and privatization will hurt families that were already stretched and stressed before the pandemic.”
During a campaign stop in Regina, Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe said surgical wait times are a problem across Canada and believes the province is in a “very strong place now with our diagnostics and surgical capacity.”
Moe said his goal is addressing surgical capacity.
“Whether or not there is a centre that is built or how we achieve that capacity, that is what is important,” Moe said.
“We have chosen to, and I think successfully over the course of the last number of years — up until we get into the COVID environment — we have successfully reduced the wait times here in Saskatchewan.”
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Wait times have increased in the province over the last five years, according to the Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative.
In July 2015, 90 per cent of people waited, on average, for 88 days to have their procedure.
That jumped to an average wait time of 202 days this February, the last full month of data before surgeries were postponed due to COVID-19.
The average wait time in November 2007 when the Saskatchewan Party was first elected government to replace the NDP was 307 days.
FULL COVERAGE: 2020 Saskatchewan Election
However, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said fewer surgeries have been performed this year due to the impact of COVID-19.
The SHA began postponing non-emergent medical procedures in March to ease the burden on the health system.
In April 2020, the SHA carried out 2,163 surgeries, compared to 7,451 in April 2019.
Surgery rates rose in June with 4,465 completed, though that is far fewer than the 7,656 performed in June 2019.
“As the data demonstrates, there has been a reduction in the volume of surgeries performed, which would be attributed to COVID-19,” health authority spokesperson Lisa Thomson said in an email to Global News last week.
The SHA said that as of the end of September, 90 per cent of postponed surgeries had been completed or scheduled, with the last 10 per cent to be scheduled or completed by the end of November.
READ MORE: Saskatchewan election tracker 2020 — Here’s what the parties are promising
In addition to surgeries, Meili said his proposed centre will provide diagnostic imaging, a pharmacy, rehabilitation and outpatient cancer care.
“The Sask. Party loved to talk about having these services in place — even Brad Wall promised it nearly a decade ago — but talk and inaction aren’t lowering wait times for people,” Meili said.
“An NDP government would make good on a broken Sask. Party promise and make the investments needed to improve a system that’s letting people down.”
Moe said his party has a record of investing in health care.
“What we have done, and will continue to do, is to increase our investment in the operations and the surgical capacity that we have in our existing facilities across the province,” Moe said.
“If there is added capacity that is needed in the physical nature as we move forward if we are re-elected as a Saskatchewan Party government, that will be there.”
Prior to the election campaign starting, the Saskatchewan Party government announced that it would invest $60 million to build two new urgent care centres — one in Regina and the other in Saskatoon.
At the time of the announcement, health officials said the centres will provide injury care such as stitches and casting for minor broken bones like fingers and toes.
The centres would also provide treatment for infections, fevers, rashes and flu symptoms and respiratory care such as asthma, and on-site diagnostic imaging, pharmaceutical and laboratory services, health officials said.
Saskatchewan heads to the polls on Oct. 26.
— With files from Global’s Ryan Kessler
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