‘A constant worry’: Family frustrated over health-care wait times

Both Morris and Ella Eagles are no strangers to cancer – each member of the married couple has had experience with it – but that hasn’t made the weeks and weeks of waiting any easier.

Recently, Ella had a CAT scan done in Regina which showed imperfections in her lungs. So, she needed a PET-CT scan in Saskatoon.

Morris said they were originally told they’d likely have to wait a considerable amount of time for that, but he took it into his own hands.

“Because of a number of calls that I made to our family doctor and the PET scan in Saskatoon, we got put on a shorter waiting list,” said Morris.

Ella was booked in for the scan in early September but on that day, the pair found out the machine that makes the serum patients have to take before a scan was broken. It wasn’t clear when the machine would be back up and running again.

“I was phoning Saskatoon every day and sometimes two times a day to find out what was happening and when we could go back to Saskatoon for the PET scan,” he said.

Morris said he’d asked around and found the PET-CT scanner was more than a decade old and the machinery to make the serum was quite old as well so it was hard to find parts.

“It’s very antiquated. It’s had a number of problems, there’s been a number of requests put in to have that machine — the PET scan — and the machine that produces the serum that they inject into people … replaced,” explained Morris.

Ella was put on another waiting list.

Twelve days later the machine was fixed and Ella got her scan. Then, she was put on another waiting list for a biopsy and was told it could be three or four months. Eventually, another scan showed that a biopsy wouldn’t be necessary, but now Ella is on another waiting list for more testing.

Morris said the waiting for them has been incredibly frustrating.

“You don’t worry maybe just an hour or two a day. It’s a constant worry. Cancer is a killer,” said Morris. “For people caught in our situation, it’s a very demoralizing (and it’s) a very uncertain future.”

Morris said there’s a dire need for the PET-CT scanner and related equipment in Saskatoon to be replaced, and for another scanner to be added in Regina.

He also said he wants the government to do more to fix the longer and longer wait times.

“I wish there was a clear indication on government’s part that we’re actually moving forward and dealing with these issues,” said Morris.

The politics

Health Minister Everett Hindley called the situation with the scanner in Saskatoon unfortunate, but did point out that it was down for less than two weeks.

“It’s an unfortunate incident. We don’t want to see this happen and we look at any steps we can to mitigate this from happening at the PET-CT scanner in Saskatoon,” said Hindley.

When asked why the government hadn’t used its recent budget surpluses to buy a new PET-CT scanner and other equipment, Hindley said there’s the matter of getting the equipment. As well, the logistics of replacing one with another can take weeks, leaving the province without a scanner for a period of time.

Saskatchewan Health Minister Everett Hindley on Oct. 31, 2023. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

The minister said there is some early work being done to look at getting another scanner in Regina.

A large part of the reason for the backlogs and wait lists has been a lack of health-care workers and the right specialists.

Hindley said the government has had some successes with its health human resources plan, which recently marked one year since its announcement. But he also admitted more work needs to be done.

“We have vacancies that we do need to fill. We do have pending retirements that might be coming forward,” he said.

The minister said he’s been meeting with the CEOs of the health authority, health services, and recruitment agencies to talk about the options to fix problems in the short and medium term.

“Are there things that we need to deal with monetarily in terms of compensation? Some of this involves negotiation, of course, to get that done,” he said.

Saskatchewan NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat, who invited the Eagles to the Legislature on Tuesday, said people should have quick access to diagnostic tests.

“We have heard from a disturbing number of people that this is not the case for them. It’s not just PET scans, we know that this exists with many different diagnostics scans across the system and this government needs to be working towards solutions,” said Mowat.

She said government needs to be investing in its health-care infrastructure and also actually bring in the staff needed in the system.

“The government needs to take it seriously. They need to show that they take cancer diagnosis seriously and right now we’re simply not seeing that,” said Mowat.