Number of surgeries being completed on the rise, Nova Scotia Health official says

New figures posted on the provincial government's health data accountability website suggests surgeons are completing roughly the same number of surgeries as 2019 pre-pandemic levels, but the woman in charge of improving wait times says the number should actually be higher.

Cindy Connolly, senior director of Nova Scotia Health's Perioperative Clinical Network, said operations done at two privately owned facilities, Scotia Surgery and Halifax Vision, are not included in the accountability data posted on the provincial health authority's Action for Health website.

She said both of the facilities have completed a total of 2,100 surgeries as of last week.

"What we have done is we have moved some of the other surgeries that are less complex to these other facilities, and so that brings the total number of [reported] surgeries down," Connolly said.

According to Connolly, surgeons in Nova Scotia have performed a total of 20,117 surgeries between April and August.

Unlike the public accountability page, which displays information by calendar year, Nova Scotia Health uses the fiscal year to measure progress.

"Year to date, we have done 106 per cent of our surgeries compared to 2019 and we've used 118 per cent of the hours that we used in 2019," said Connolly. 

"We're working on reducing the waitlists and the wait times."

The public accountability page also notes the province's largest hospital complex, the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, has recorded 2,100 fewer surgeries than in 2019, only surpassing the comparative weekly benchmarks four times in the last eight months.

Connolly said that's because the hospital has been handling more time-consuming surgeries.

"If we're doing a complex surgery that takes, you know, eight or 10 hours — and some of them do — then that's probably eight cases that you could have done if they only take an hour," she said. 

"It's not just in the numbers of surgery, but it's making sure patients get the surgery on time. That's a critical piece of this."

'Quite an impact'

Last fall, the province expanded operating room hours to include nights and weekends, and offered bonuses to surgeons and other OR staff to work those shifts. 

Connolly estimated 70 to 90 procedures had been completed during those expanded hours.

In March 2023, Nova Scotia created a single-entry system that includes an e-system for surgical consultation referrals, which helps match patients with options to be referred anywhere in the province for consult and follow-up.

Connolly said that change alone has "had quite an impact."

"Patients are booked for surgery based on their time waiting and their acuity," said Connolly. "A majority of patients are choosing to go to a site that may have a shorter wait time for their consult.

"Very few patients are selecting a specific provider. I think it's made a huge difference."