B.C. Election: How does each party plan to fix B.C.’s wait-list crisis?

“Without data to understand where those pressures are greatest, I don’t know how we can intelligently direct these precious health-care dollars.”

Hoag would like the leaders to commit to the specialists’ wait-list management proposal, which includes not only creating a database, but also giving specialists the option to provide written advice to nurse practitioners or family doctors in cases where it may not be necessary for a patient to see that specialist.

“Right now, patients with less urgent issues are waiting months or years when they could actually be getting help right away if we were empowered to provide written advice,” said Hoag.

Specialists are also seeking time-based payments, capped weekly, for administrative work including triaging, pre-consultation preparation and wait-list management.

Hoag said it’s not just non-urgent cases taking months; patients with life-threatening issues are also facing delays, as many specialists deal with backlogs. He added there’s a serious shortage of obstetrics and gynecology specialists, neurologists and urologists across B.C.

“It’s really disheartening. On a daily basis, we’re getting emails from specialists across the province telling us about the incredible pressure that they’re under with an inadequate ability to reach people.”

Green party Leader Emily Lowan supports increasing the number of health workers like medical imaging technicians and radiation technologists, who represent a bottleneck in the system. She has also pledged to boost post-secondary and clinical training capacity, review paid practicums and introduce a single entry model for referrals.

Doctors of B.C. is calling on the parties to address four priorities: easing specialist wait-lists, including creating a provincial wait-list database; ensuring residents have access to a family doctor; improving access to emergency care; and strengthening rural health care.

“I can’t say I’m surprised that (the NDP and Conservatives) haven’t put (a provincial wait-list database) on their list of their promises, but certainly it’s a big issue for us,” said Dr. Charlene Lui, immediate past-president of Doctors of B.C. “We’ve been calling on the government to implement a co-ordinated provincewide approach to reducing wait-lists.”

Lui said doctors are concerned about the proposed tax bracket changes and whether that could lead to problems recruiting and retaining specialists. While she said the Conservatives’ plan to provide a $50 million relief fund for rural practices could be helpful, it would depend how the money is spent. For example, patient transportation is lacking in rural communities.

Mary Polak, CEO of the B.C. Care Providers Association, said more than 7,000 seniors are waiting for a space in long-term residence. So far, she said, Eby has only promised to restart long-term care projects that had been paused but hasn’t provided a target for how many new long-term care beds the NDP would build.

“Re-announcing projects that were cancelled is not the answer,” she said.

CentreBC’s Elenore Sturko, who is running in Surrey South, said she would connect health records across regions to improve the referral process, and create a public dashboard to report specialist, surgery and scan wait times by hospital and region.

Former Conservative MLA Dallas Brodie, leader of OneBC, said the problem isn’t the overall level of spending but where the money is being spent. She said the province spends far too much on administration and other areas that aren’t directly related to health care.

OneBC would do an efficiency audit of the health-care system, shift resources back to the front line, especially those with medical backgrounds who are working in office positions while hospitals are short-staffed.

ticrawford@postmedia.com