‘Tsunami of cancer,’ hundreds of thousands in B.C. waiting for medical imaging

The BC Radiological Society is sounding the alarm, saying hundreds of thousands of people in the province are waiting for medical imaging.

President Dr. Charlotte Yong-Hing worries this backlog will cause people to get their diagnostic results too late.

“The longer the wait, the more anxiety there is, and the more the patient suffers,” she told CityNews. “In addition, waiting can lead to disease progressing, especially cancers.”

Related Articles:

• The health-care crisis part I: Nurses

• B.C. pharmacies prepare flu and COVID booster shots for October

• MPs, Senators debate requirements for medically assisted dying with mental disorders

The society has sent an open letter to B.C.’s Health Minister Adrian Dix, asking to help ease the burden on the system.

In the letter Monday, the society said that timely access to medical imaging saves lives, and helps to prevent disease progression.

“We are asking for urgent action to address this issue and want to work with you to develop specific solutions,” the society wrote.

The group says four key areas need to be urgently addressed to prevent further “deterioration” in access to medical imaging in the province.

These are: Human resources, equipment, breast-imaging, and community imaging clinics (CICs).

“We cannot stress enough the urgency to take action on the CIC issue now, before the situation becomes much worse. We are more than willing to collaborate with you to develop specific solutions for remaining issues, but that work needs to start now,” the society wrote in its letter.

The society says medical imaging is a “cornerstone of our healthcare system” which patients and physicians rely on for diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of medical conditions.

“The longer the wait, the more chance cancer has to grow, and this is why we fear a tsunami of cancer,” Yong-Hing told CityNews.

“We’re worried that cancers are going to be identified at more advanced stages. Stages where they’re more difficult to treat, or the treatments more invasive, and the patient’s success rate is lower,” Yong-Hing said.

In response to City News the Ministry of Health said “We recognize the concerns expressed by members of the British Columbia Radiological Society, in the letter they sent to the Minister yesterday. We want to assure British Columbians that we remain committed to ensuring patients across the province are able to access the care they need, when they need it.”

“Despite the claims made in the letter, it’s worth noting that since August 2017, this government added 17 net-new MRI units across the province (Fraser +5, Interior +3, Northern +2, Provincial Health Services +1, Vancouver Coastal +2, Vancouver Island +4.) This has resulted in tremendous progress on reducing wait-times for diagnostic imaging in B.C.”

“With regards to staffing and training, on July 19, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training announced $2.5 million in one-time funding to BCIT for a bursary program that will help current MRI technologist students who are also health authority employees complete their training. The first bursaries were awarded April 2022,” a spokesperson for the ministry added.

“We continue to work on a provincial health human resources strategy, which we hope to share more information on very soon. We are working hard to develop solutions to these ongoing challenges. We’ll continue to build on our investments in diagnostic imaging and allied-health care investments so that patients can have access to the quality and timely care they deserve in B.C.”