Revisiting the concept of urgency in surgical prioritization and addressing backlogs in elective surgery provision

The views expressed in this article by the authors does not reflect the “true “ problems encountered by practicing surgeons . The current system places individual surgeons in an adversarial role , advocating for their patients, against other surgeons for limited access to OR time . Most surgeons are not fully booked in terms of availability, with many hospitals offering only one OR day per week . Government and hospitals, control access to OR time by limiting the availability of anaesthetists and budget restraints. Patients want more timely access to those non- urgent, quality of life procedures offered by surgical subsections. There needs to be an open discussion about free standing ambulatory surgical facilities and moving Canada to a medical care system present in every enviable nation that offers private health care options.