Anxiety and confusion as B.C. mammogram results delayed

Women in B.C. are facing increased delays getting mammograms, leading to delayed diagnoses.

One of B.C.’s most respected radiologists is sounding the alarm over a critical shortage of radiologists and technologists, with patients waiting longer than ever for mammogram results.

Dr. Paula Gordon has spent decades as a clinical researcher, instructor, and advocate for breast cancer screening and is warning that the delayed results – sometimes taking months – are resulting in confusion in some and prolonged anxiety in others.

“Women assume no news is good news, which is wrong because their mammogram hasn’t even been read yet,” she said in a one-on-one interview with CTV News. “Even for women who turn out not to have cancer, it’s really awful waiting any length of time.”

In B.C., doctors and specialists earn different amounts according to which procedures or examinations they perform on a patient, and the same goes for radiology: analyzing a chest x-ray is compensated differently from an MRI or CT scan, with mammograms among the lowest paid.

Mammograms remain the most reliable way to detect breast cancer before lumps are detectable by touch, though women with dense breasts need ultra-specialized screening.

• Related: ‘Saved my life’: Breast cancer survivors applaud Alberta’s earlier screening age

“It’s been like this for many years, and it’s getting harder to get radiology residents to do the breast sub-specialty training,” Gordon explained. “You can’t blame them (because) they’ve got student debt to pay; they want to buy a house.”

It’s a similar situation with radiation technologists who perform the mammograms, expertly manoeuvring patients into the machine and ensuring the scans are clear and appropriately positioned for the radiologist to review.

In November, the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists told reporters on parliament hill the country is so short that a “workforce crisis” is underway with widespread impacts on the healthcare system. Today, medical imaging of one form or another takes place before nearly all surgeries and most invasive procedures.

“Techs are feeling burnout all over the place as they’re being forced to do more with little,” said Lindsay Ellis, CAMRT’s manager for BC. “At the end of the day, what suffers is the patient care.”

• Read more: CT scanner disruptions grow as B.C. medical imaging hangs by a thread
• ‘Too young to have breast cancer’: Rates among young Canadian women rising

The ministry of health sent CTV News a statement summarizing the government’s 10-Year Cancer Action Plan and pointing out “more people in B.C. are benefiting from expanded screening, increased access to tests for cancer and improved treatments” and that there are 37 mammography clinics in the province in addition to three mobile screening units.

“The Ministry and regional health authorities are working together with the Provincial Health Services Authority to collaborate on strategies such as new training opportunities for technologists, improving internal processes, and increasing system capacity,” it reads, in part.