Consultant Specialists of BC in the News
Sending B.C. cancer patients to U.S. won't fix overstretched system, says doctor
Sending people with prostate and breast cancer across the border for radiation treatment is a short-term solution that doesn’t address the long waiting times for diagnostic imaging and the initial oncology appointment, say two Metro Vancouver doctors who work with cancer patients.
Dr. Chris Hoag, a urologist and past president of the Consultant Specialists of B.C., said this week’s announcement that eligible breast and prostate cancer patients will be sent to one of two clinics in Bellingham for radiation is great news for patients, but “it’s a sad state of affairs that our system has declined to the point where we’re now asking to send patients to another country to get treated.”
Vaughn Palmer: B.C. NDP cross a political Rubicon by sending cancer patients to U.S.
VICTORIA — Health Minister Adrian Dix tried to put the best face on his decision this week to send almost 5,000 B.C. cancer patients to the United States for needed radiation treatment.
He acknowledged up front the embarrassment for a party that routinely makes political hay disparaging the U.S. system.
“I understand the political challenge,” Dix told Katie DeRosa of Postmedia News. “But if you care about health care and cancer care, it’s not really a difficult question.”
B.C. was warned a decade ago to prepare for cancer-case influx: former B.C. Cancer head
The decision to send some cancer patients to the U.S. for treatment indicates a “significant failure” of the system to deal with the influx of cancer cases that oncologists have been warning the province about for more than a decade, says the former head of B.C. Cancer.
Dr. Malcolm Moore, a medical oncologist who led B.C. Cancer from 2014 to 2019, said he was saddened by news that as many as 4,800 breast cancer and prostate cancer patients over the next two years will be sent to clinics in Bellingham, Washington, because “it fundamentally indicates a fairly serious systemic failure.”
Specialist doctors report 1 million B.C. patients on waitlists
Dozens of specialist doctors have signed a letter to B.C.’s health minister with dire warnings that the health-care system has deteriorated to the point that one million patients are waiting to see them.
CTV News has obtained the letter, dated Wednesday, Sept. 21, which describes patients getting sicker and weaker, with worsening prognoses as they wait months or even years to see a specialist who could help improve their quality of life through medical imaging, surgery or other specialized treatments.
B.C. medical specialists call for urgent meeting with health minister as patients are stuck waiting
A group of 26 doctors has sent B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix a letter asking for a meeting to “express deep concern for the estimated one million patients waiting to see a specialist” in the province.
The specialist doctors who co-signed the letter say they have been hampered by years of increasing challenges compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the challenges addressed by the doctors is Urgent Primary Care Centres and emergency departments are overwhelmed and can’t provide immediate access to specialists.
Specialists write open letter to Adrian Dix about B.C.'s 'crumbling' health-care system
A group of more than two dozen medical specialists has ripped Health Minister Adrian Dix in an open letter, complaining they are watching their patients suffer and die on lengthening waiting lists.
The 26 specialist doctors — led by Cassandra Lane Dielwart, an orthopedic surgeon in Kelowna and head of that specialty’s association in B.C. — says the province’s crumbling health-care system is letting patients down, a million of whom are on waiting lists that are only getting worse.
More than a million provincials waiting to see a specialist signed a joint petition calling for improved waiting times
26 British Columbia specialists jointly signed a letter to the Minister of Health Adrian Dix, requesting an emergency meeting to discuss the patient waiting list. It is estimated that as many as 1 million British Columbians are on the waiting list for doctors in different specialties.
The group of specialists stated in the letter that the new crown epidemic has brought more and more challenges, which have hindered their work. One of the challenges is the overcrowding of the "Urgent Primary Care Center (UPCC)" and emergency departments. patients, are unable to schedule specialist visits immediately, and the entire healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, yet not enough is being done to improve specialist patient access or shorten waiting times.
Nous sommes démoralisés » disent des spécialistes au ministre de la Santé de la C.-B.
Vingt-six médecins spécialistes de la santé de la Colombie-Britannique ont envoyé une lettre ouverte au ministre de la Santé, Adrian Dix, pour lui demander une rencontre afin de discuter de l'état inquiétant des soins spécialisés dans la province.
Ils décrivent un système de soins spécialisés qui s'effondre et qui risque de se détériorer encore plus si rien n'est fait.