B.C. specialist doctors sound the alarm on long wait-lists

Two doctors groups in British Columbia say there is a "wait-list crisis" to see specialists and it's compromising residents' health. 

Doctors of B.C. and the Consultant Specialists of B.C. say they surveyed nearly 1,000 specialists and found that about 1.2 million patients are waiting too long to see a health expert in areas such as cardiology, neurology, orthopedic surgery, and urology.

"We're not talking about surgery wait times here. We're talking about just getting from your GP or getting a referral to a specialist," said Dr. Robert Carruthers, president of Consultant Specialists of B.C.

According to his group, specialist doctors in B.C. have an average of 282 patients on their waiting lists. As a result, he says British Columbians with urgent cases wait four weeks to see a specialist, while those with semi-urgent cases wait 10 weeks, and non-urgent cases can wait up to 10 months.

The survey also found that more than six in 10 specialists say their wait-lists have grown in the past two years.

"To be really blunt … there just aren't enough specialists, just in the same way there aren't enough family doctors," Dr. Carruthers said.

The Early Edition7:04Specialists raising alarm over growing wait lists

Dr. Robert Carruthers, president of the Consultant Specialists of B.C., says the province isn't doing enough to tackle wait lists, and that doctors and their patients are suffering.

However, the two doctors' groups have suggestions on how to address the issue, which include modernizing the wait-list management system, expanding team-based specialist care, investing in training and recruitment, enhancing rural outreach and bringing in flexible payment models. 

As part of a possible wait-list management system, Carruthers said that instead of doing a full consultation, doctors could send a "letter of advice" to certain patients on their waiting list.

"That frees up a spot. It creates efficiency so that there's more specialist time available," he said.

Furthermore, an integrated, provincewide wait-list system could help the government target funding and initiatives to specialists with the longest lists, Carruthers said. 

Health Minister Josie Osborne said in a statement that while the COVID-19 surgery backlog has been eliminated, there is more work to do to improve surgery waits, but she did not specifically address the issue of wait-lists to see specialists. 

Osborne said she has received a funding proposal from Doctors of B.C. and Consultant Specialists of B.C. and is asking them to provide more data and analysis to ensure their plans would effectively reduce wait-list times.