From the Department of Surgery St. Paul's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Wiseman); and the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Sutherland)
From the Department of Surgery St. Paul's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Wiseman); and the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Sutherland).
Can J Surg. 2023 Sep 21;66(5):E474-E475. doi: 10.1503/cjs.015922. Print 2023 Sep-Oct.
The backlog of cases on surgical wait lists is a substantial problem for surgical patients, their families, surgeons, health care systems and governments. There are several approaches governments can take to improve the health, well-being and surgical outcomes of waiting patients. First, provinces should consider patient-centred approaches to triaging that reflect pain, symptoms or functional gain, and approaches using multidisciplinary teams or centralized triage. Second, governments could provide prehabilitation and mental health supports aligned with patients' and families' preferences during unavoidable waits. Wait times are not going to shorten any time soon; provinces should not only find innovative approaches to reducing waits, but also organize services to improve the health and well-being of waiting patients. Such changes will allow for optimization of patients' surgical outcomes and reduce the complexity of managing the wait list for their surgeons.
手术等候名单上积压的病例对手术患者、他们的家人、外科医生、医疗保健系统和政府来说都是一个重大问题。政府可以采取几种方法来改善等候患者的健康、福利和手术结果。首先，各省应考虑采用以患者为中心的分诊方法，反映疼痛、症状或功能改善，并采用多学科团队或集中分诊的方法。其次，政府可以在不可避免的等待期间，根据患者和家属的偏好，提供康复前和心理健康支持。等待时间不会很快缩短；各省不仅要找到减少等待的创新方法，还要组织服务，以改善等候患者的健康和福利。这些变化将优化患者的手术结果，并减少其外科医生管理等候名单的复杂性。
