Canadian hospitals are under tremendous pressure. The successive waves of COVID-19, the shortage of health personnel and the immense delay in medical and surgical interventions have been in the headlines for months. Governments across the country are responding by investing in hospital infrastructure, implementing major recruitment and retention programs, and rethinking how to reduce wait times.
Posted at 2:00 p.m.
Despite these efforts, a new crisis is affecting our healthcare system behind the scenes: a shortage of medical devices and supplies.
The COVID-19 pandemic and other international events, such as the war in Ukraine, have increased the cost of fuel and raw materials. These factors, and several others, such as the general labor shortage, are pushing prices up.
According to the CD Howe Institute, the price of plastics and resin, which are essential components of commonly used medical devices, such as needles and syringes, has doubled.
Costs associated with transport have tripled and the price of other raw materials, such as metal, has increased by more than 30%. As a result, the costs of producing and supplying essential medical devices, such as IV bags, gauze, stents, prostheses for hip or knee replacement, and pacemakers, are skyrocketing.
Moreover, the medical supply contracts concluded with the provinces and territories are much less flexible than those concluded with their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Manufacturers and suppliers are bound by fixed-price contracts lasting five to seven years, which means that it is often impossible for them to simply adjust their prices in real time to reflect the impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical forces. in the market, unlike other sectors.
An untenable situation
Unless governments and other procurement agencies work with vendors to find solutions that address the current supply chain crisis, manufacturers and vendors will have to supply these devices at significant loss. This situation is simply not viable.
In March 2022, Medtech Canada released a position paper outlining its four key recommendations for governments to address the global supply chain and transportation crisis and its potentially negative impact on patient care.
The shortage of epidural catheters used to manage pain during childbirth and caesarean sections is a recent example of this issue.
Product shortages can contribute to increased wait times – a problem that comes on top of unprecedented delays in surgical procedures – and to a significant deterioration in the quality of care provided to Canadians.
Like investments that have been made in other areas to stabilize the health care system, investments in medical devices and supplies are needed to ensure that we can provide Canadians with the quality care they expect in a timely manner. wait.
Canadian patients have suffered enough from long wait times and limited access to the essential medical services they need due to the delays in the health system generated by the pandemic. Medical devices and supplies are essential to provide the quality of care that we are entitled to expect in Canada and in Quebec.
We cannot ignore these supply chain issues, and we urge governments to work with industry to ensure that our healthcare system not only has the capacity, but also the supplies to support Canadian patients.