B.C.’S surgical renewal commitment delivered more surgeries for patients than ever for one year ending March 31, 2024.

“When we made our surgical renewal commitment to patients, we said we would deliver surgeries that were postponed or not scheduled because of COVID-19, and we did,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, on Thursday. “We said we’d deliver surgeries fastest to those who need them most and we do. We said we’d change the way surgeries are delivered in B.C. and we have. As our population continues to grow and our health-care system adapts to numerous pressures, our plan to improve access to surgeries for patients is working.”

Key achievements in 2023-24 include:

* The March 2024 Canadian Institute for Health Information report ranks B.C. first in Canada for the per cent of patients meeting clinical benchmarks for cataract surgeries and second nationally for the percentage of patients meeting clinical benchmarks for hip and knee replacements.

* Operating rooms ran 52,614 more hours, a 9% increase compared to the same time frame in 2019-20.

* There were 365,825 scheduled and unscheduled surgeries completed, including 284,844 scheduled surgeries, which is 24,380 more scheduled surgeries compared to the same timeframe in 2019-20. This is 14,939 more scheduled and unscheduled surgeries compared to 2022-23.

* There were 33,950 urgent scheduled surgeries completed within four weeks, a 7% increase compared to the same timeframe in 2019-20.

* As well, 29,709 non-urgent surgeries were performed on patients who waited longer than two times their target wait, a 15% increase compared to the same timeframe in 2019-20.

* The total wait list size is 96,802 cases, a decrease of 3,442 since May 2020 and an increase of 2,962 since March 2020.

* Since April 1, 2023, 692 surgical specialty nurses completed their training. This brings the total number of surgical nurses trained since April 2020 to 1,634.

* Since April 2020, the Province has added new health-care staff to surgical services in B.C., including 189 surgeons, 152 anesthesiologists, 313 perioperative nurses, 12 general physician/family physician anesthetists and 106 medical device reprocessing technicians.

Health authorities have continued to make progress implementing initiatives to increase operating room time and capacity. In January 2024, health authorities delivered the highest number of surgeries ever in one week by delivering 7,952 surgeries between Jan. 28, 2024, and February 3, 2024.

Since starting the surgical renewal commitment, 146 initiatives have been identified by the health authorities to increase capacity. Of the 146 initiatives, 99 are in place, 33 have been completed, eight have been paused and six are yet to be started. In 2024, a further 16 were put in place – three are completed, 13 are ongoing. Overall, these achievements represent the collective efforts of each health authority and a commitment to ensure that operating room hours continue to increase in the coming years.

Examples include:

* Fraser Health opened an additional operating room at Royal Columbian Hospital, Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Peace Arch Hospital.

* Interior Health opened an additional operating room at Okanagan Health Surgical Centre.

* Island Health opened an additional operating room at South Island Surgical Centre and Cowichan District Hospital.

* Northern Health opened an additional operating room at Bulkley Valley District Hospital and Dawson Creek and District Hospital.

* Provincial Health Services opened an additional operating room at BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital, and an off-site dental room at BC Children’s Hospital.

* Vancouver Coastal Health opened an additional operating room at New West Surgical Centre and Sechelt Hospital, and reduced winter and spring break slowdowns at Squamish General Hospital, and winter slowdowns at Sechelt Hospital.

“From this progress report, we can see just how much can be achieved, how quickly we can achieve it and how enduring those accomplishments are when we have clear targets, a tight focus on accomplishment and, as always, an unfailing drive to work together to get more patients their surgery faster by changing the way we deliver surgeries in B.C.,” said Dix.