GOVERNMENT AND HEALTH SYSTEM PARTNERS RELEASE PLAN TO IMPROVE SURGICAL CARE

Saskatchewan's Health Minister Don McMorris joined a surgeon and a former surgical patient today in publicly releasing a plan to shorten surgical wait times and improve the experience of surgical patients in Saskatchewan.

At a Regina news conference attended by health system representatives, McMorris was joined at the podium by Dr. Peter Barrett, a Saskatoon-based urologist and Dan Stroman, one of five former surgical patients serving as advisors to the Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative.

In response to the findings of the 2009 Patient First Review, the Government of Saskatchewan has committed to achieving a maximum wait time of three months for elective surgeries, to be achieved in four years.

In 2010-11, the provincial government will provide $10.5 million in funding for the surgical plan. This funding will support:

• 3,000 additional surgeries;
• 2,500 additional CT scans;
• Renovations to enhance operating rooms and post-operative bed capacity;
• Implementation and expansion of an electronic Surgical Information System; and
• Numerous system improvement initiatives identified in the plan.

Among the plan's 25 initiatives will be a surgical referral website for patients, standardized safety checklists in operating rooms and contracting of third-party surgical care to increase the province's surgical capacity.

"It has been energizing and encouraging to watch the health system come together for the sake of patients and families," McMorris said. "We have set ambitious goals, not only to achieve short wait times, but to make fundamental improvements to surgical care from the patient's first visit to a family doctor to their rehabilitation and recovery. I'm pleased to say we're already making progress."

"Physicians, providers and patients will be critical to our success if we want to truly transform surgical care," Barrett said, serving as a physician leader with the initiative. "If we can achieve this in surgery, we can transfer what we've learned to other sectors of the health system."

Patient advisor Dan Stroman said patient input has been an integral part of the surgical plan's development.

"The patient advisors were asked to ensure the patient's perspective wasn't forgotten as ideas were exchanged and plans made," Stroman said. "We've been speaking up and we're being heard."

Entitled Sooner, Safer, Smarter: A Plan to Transform the Surgical Patient Experience, the plan released today represents the collaboration of physicians, surgeons, nurses and other care providers, health system administrators and patient representatives.

It outlines projects that are either in development or currently being implemented in the health system to achieve shorter wait times, a better patient experience, safer and higher quality care, a healthier population, and a stable, adequate supply of patient- and family-centred care providers.

In support of efforts to improve access to specialized diagnostic imaging services, the Ministry of Health is also providing $2 million in funding to replace the MRI at Saskatoon City Hospital.

Progress on each of the surgical plan's initiatives will be monitored and evaluated over the four-year lifespan of the surgical initiative, with results regularly reported to health system partners and the public.

Copies of the complete plan are available at www.health.gov.sk.ca/saskatchewan-surgical-initiative.

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For more information, contact:

Karen Hill
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083