Waiting for new joints

Zoomer | January 1st, 2006

Tom Servinis hurts, fiercely. The 57-year-old Toronto resident’s left hip is gradually being destroyed by osteoarthritis and he’s scheduled for hip replacement surgery in August. For Servinis, it’s been an agonizing 36-week wait-even longer than the 25-week average most Canadians endure.An active man with a young family, he’s noticed how his decreasing mobility has taken him away from friends and social events and off his kids’ soccer pitch.

“I don’t know what’s worse,” he says, “the physical pain or the sadness, alienation and mental pain I feel.”

Servinis is not alone in his distress. The Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA) reports there are more than 37,000 knee and hip replacement surgeries in Canada annually. And the inescapable demographics of the country dictate that the figure will increase dramatically. Over the next 30 years, for example, the number of people with arthritis will rise by 124 per cent.

Improve services
The COA and The Arthritis Society (TAS) are calling for a concerted effort to improve services before the situation reaches a full-blown crisis. Dr. Cecil Rorabeck, president of the COA, points to sevel areas of concern:

  • A surgeon shortage. The number of orthopaedic surgeons is shrinking through retirement, death or migration to the United States. Not enough doctors are training for the specialty.
  • A shortage of operating room nurses, anesthetists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
  • Nursing shortages may cause orthopaedic bed closures.
  • Hospital cutbacks have limited orthopaedic surgeries and resulted in shortages of beds for surgical patients.
  • An equipment shortage. Canada does not have sufficient numbers of computed tomography (CT) scanners or magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs), which aid in deciding whether a patient needs surgery or less invasive treatment.

Campaign for access
Both organizations are behind Canada in Motion, a campaign aimed at improving access to orthopaedic care. They’re asking for:

  • National standards for waiting times for treatment.
  • Better service for patients in remote areas.
  • Greater use of outpatient surgery.
  • An increase in the number of graduating orthopaedic surgeons.
  • A strategy for retaining orthopaedic surgeons in Canada.
  • Improved orthopaedic training in medical schools for all doctors.
  • Development of multi-specialty orthopaedic clinics to provide a continuity of care for orthopaedic patients.
  • Physician assistants such as nurse practitioners to reduce waiting times by allowing surgeons more time for referrals and surgery.
  • Doctors to educate their patients, teaching them to prevent problems or to reduce severity and avoid complications.

Tom Servinis hurts, fiercely. The 57-year-old Toronto resident’s left hip is gradually being destroyed by osteoarthritis and he’s scheduled for hip replacement surgery in August. For Servinis, it’s been an agonizing 36-week wait-even longer than the 25-week average most Canadians endure.

An active man with a young family, he’s noticed how his decreasing mobility has taken him away from friends and social events and off his kids’ soccer pitch.

“I don’t know what’s worse,” he says, “the physical pain or the sadness, alienation and mental pain I feel.”

Servinis is not alone in his distress. The Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA) reports there are more than 37,000 knee and hip replacement surgeries in Canada annually. And the inescapable demographics of the country dictate that the figure will increase dramatically. Over the next 30 years, for example, the number of people with arthritis will rise by 124 per cent.

Improve services
The COA and The Arthritis Society (TAS) are calling for a concerted effort to improve services before the situation reaches a full-blown crisis. Dr. Cecil Rorabeck, president of the COA, points to several areas of concern:

  • A surgeon shortage. The number of orthopaedic surgeons is shrinking through retirement, death or migration to the United States. Not enough doctors are training for the specialty.
  • A shortage of operating room nurses, anesthetists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
  • Nursing shortages may cause orthopaedic bed closures.
  • Hospital cutbacks have limited orthopaedic surgeries and resulted in shortages of beds for surgical patients.
  • An equipment shortage. Canada does not have sufficient numbers of computed tomography (CT) scanners or magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs), which aid in deciding whether a patient needs surgery or less invasive treatment.

Campaign for access
Both organizations are behind Canada in Motion, a campaign aimed at improving access to orthopaedic care. They’re asking for:

  • National standards for waiting times for treatment.
  • Better service for patients in remote areas.
  • Greater use of outpatient surgery.
  • An increase in the number of graduating orthopaedic surgeons.
  • A strategy for retaining orthopaedic surgeons in Canada.
  • Improved orthopaedic training in medical schools for all doctors.
  • Development of multi-specialty orthopaedic clinics to provide a continuity of care for orthopaedic patients.
  • Physician assistants such as nurse practitioners to reduce waiting times by allowing surgeons more time for referrals and surgery.
  • Doctors to educate their patients, teaching them to prevent problems or to reduce severity and avoid complications.