Federal health group says private medical clinics won't reduce cataract surgery wait times
Canadian Health Coalition says St. John's doctor's call for more surgeries in private clinics won't work
A federal health group disagrees with a St. John's eye surgeon's proposal to allow publicly funded cataract surgery to be done in private medical clinics.
St. John's ophthalmologist Christopher Jackman says he could reduce wait times for cataract removal if he did them at his private Jackman Eye Institute.
"We know that in some cases people are waiting more than two years for cataract surgery," Jackman told reporters at a media briefing Tuesday, adding that people are flying out of the province to have cataract surgery.
There is this myth that if we introduce private clinics it will somehow siphon people off of the wait lists and improve wait times.- Amanda Wilson
But the Canadian Health Coalition disputes his claim that private clinics reduce wait times.
"In other provinces where this type of care has been allowed this to happen we haven't seen wait times being reduced. That's certainly not what we have seen in other parts of the country," said Amanda Wilson, the coalition's national director of policy and advocacy.
"I don't really think it's the solution that we are looking for. There is this myth that if we introduce private clinics that it will somehow siphon people off of the wait lists and improve wait times but that's not what the evidence and research shows."
Wilson also says that when private clinics have been allowed to provide publicly funded services in other provinces it has resulted in some physicians selling patients uninsured services.
When patients go into these clinics they are pressured to upsell additional lenses or extra measurements.- Amanda Wilson
"Research done in other provinces where there are these private clinics contracted out, we have seen lots of concerns around user fees and extra billings so even though the service is covered by the provincial insurance plan, when patients go into these clinics they are pressured to upsell additional lenses or extra measurements," said Wilson.
The coalition also disputes Jackman's assertion that patients are waiting up to two years for cataract surgery in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Province planning changes
"The argument that everybody is waiting two years is probably inaccurate. Certainly there may be individual cases but in terms of wait times overall Newfoundland and Labrador is actually doing pretty good. Is there room for improvement? Always," she said.
In statements to CBC News this week, the province's justice department says it plans to amend the rules governing the provision of health care in this province to ensure that cataracts are removed only in hospitals — a move Jackman said would be a mistake.