London patients forced to wait even longer for surgeries as Liberals refuse to act: NDP

London NDP MPPs Peggy Sattler (London West) and Teresa Armstrong (London-Fanshawe) are calling on the Liberal government to start looking out for patients in London, as another 500 local residents are forced to wait even longer for the surgeries they need. 

“This morning Londoners learned that 500 surgeries in our local hospitals will be cancelled, to be rescheduled at a later date. That means 500 patients, who’ve already been waiting in pain for up to two years, will be forced to wait even longer,” said Sattler. “Who in this Liberal government is looking out for patients, for these 500 people in London who are now facing a health care crisis?”

The Ministry of Health is responsible for overseeing the health care system across Ontario, but the Liberals have repeatedly refused to stand up for patients in London. Wait times are already longer than many other parts of the province and surgeries keep getting cancelled.

Earlier this year, on March 25, Sattler and Armstrong asked the Minister of Health to stop cuts to surgeries, but the Liberals refused to act. Now, once again, patients who need hip replacements, hernia operations, and gall bladder surgeries are being forced to wait longer than expected for the surgeries they need.

“Will this Liberal government take responsibility and stop the latest cuts to surgeries?,” Armstrong asked Acting Premier Deb Matthews. “Or will the Acting Premier make more excuses and force 500 patients to wait even longer? Which is it?”

Despite being the local MPP for London North Centre, Matthews deflected the question to the Minister of Health, who refused to address the issue.

The Liberal government has frozen hospital funding across Ontario for the past four years, leading to widespread hospital cuts, layoffs to frontline health care workers, and putting patient care at risk.