Thousands of patients in B.C. awaiting elective surgery have been sent letters by the province's health authorities warning their operations might get cancelled as a result of a labour dispute with anesthesiologists, who could face legal action if the planned withdrawal of their services goes ahead.
But none of those letters went out to patients in the Northern Health Authority and there are no foreseen disruptions of surgery in northern B.C. hospitals when the anesthesiologists begin their job action on Monday.
"We haven't sent any letters out because we aren't expecting any delays, but we are monitoring the situation closely," said Steve Raper, Northern Health director of communications. "We're in a position where we think we're prepared and we'll respond if we need to."
Raper said Northern Health is the only health authority in the province not affected.
"We're certainly a different system in that we're in the north and we're a bit more rural, and other health authorities have larger volumes of surgeries and larger hospitals and operating rooms and they would certainly see a bigger impact in anything like this," said Raper.
The B.C. Anesthesiologists Society (BCAS) alerted health authorities in January of a planned partial withdrawal of services for elective surgery, to start on Monday. The group of doctors is protesting the fee-for-service formula for non-salaried anesthesiologists and wants health authorities to address shortfalls in recruitment and retention of staff, long wait lists for surgery, and inefficiencies in the system.
"We've been warning for the past three months that service reductions were coming April 2 but the health authorities have continued to book patients for surgeries," BCAS president Dr. Jeff Rains told the Vancouver Sun on Thursday.
"They have intentionally put patients into this dispute and patients will not find out their surgeries are cancelled until the day of the operation, after they have already booked off work, arranged child care, and fasted overnight."
B.C. has about 470 anesthesiologists, of which about 200 are salaried employees whose paycheques are not based on the number of patients they service. Those who are on salaries have indicated they won't be withdrawing their services.
Rains said the anesthesiologists who will be on duty next week plan to work extended hours to minimize the impact on patients and allow surgeries to go ahead, provided nursing staff is available for that additional time.
Northern Health currently has eight anesthesiologists and is actively recruiting two more. Province-wide, there are 30 positions open.
Although they are represented by the B.C. Medical Association (BCMA), the sole bargaining authority for the province's 11,000 medical doctors, anesthesiologists want the right to negotiate on their own behalf, claiming the BCMA is not representing their concerns and issues.
Lawyers for the province's five heath authorities have filed court papers that could result in a temporary injunction if anesthesiologists withdraw services. The lawyers sent the BCAS a letter to inform the group that any doctor who fails to live up contract obligations could be subject to a civil suit.
Robert Halpenny, chief executive officer of Interior Health, confirmed 3,237 patients in B.C. were sent letters warning them their surgeries might have to be rescheduled. He also said there would be no postponements of emergency or urgent surgery .
Health Minister Mike De Jong has said the government is looking into legislation that would allow nurses to perform the duties of anesthesiologists and would consider making arrangements with other provinces or the United States for patients needing elective surgery.
