She wasn't told she has cancer. She says that could have been a 'death sentence'

Five weeks aft Cathy Croskery's close bosom was biopsied for suspected cancer, she inactive hadn't received the results.

She figured that was bully news. It wasn't.

The 58-year-old parent and woman yet discovered she has invasive carcinoma, but had to track down that diagnosis herself.

Croskery doesn't person a household doctor. She said that led to barriers getting into the strategy and a breakdown successful connection successful receiving trial results that would yet onshore her successful an operating country for a lumpectomy days aft yet receiving them.

"If I had kept going, 'No quality is bully news,' wherever would I be?" said Croskery, who lives successful Middle Sackville, N.S., but is primitively from Burlington, Ont. 

"That's a decease condemnation for a batch of people."

Experts accidental Croskery's lawsuit underscores that the province still has enactment to bash to guarantee amended co-ordination wrong the health-care system, with the well-being of the patients it serves astatine stake.

Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Health says it is making advancement connected connecting the astir 95,000 Nova Scotians on its need-a-family-practice registry with superior attraction providers, but recognizes challenges stay for those who inactive don't person idiosyncratic to crook to erstwhile their wellness deteriorates.

Croskery said she started to notice new unit successful her close bosom successful aboriginal 2023. She had antecedently had a sebaceous cyst successful the aforesaid bosom successful 2018, truthful she figured it was acting up.

When the symptom worsened and she felt a lump in September 2024, she knew it was clip to person it checked.

Without a household doctor, she wasn't definite wherever to turn. She called the Nova Scotia Breast Screening Program, but they told her the programme is for screening only. Since she had felt a lump, she'd request a referral from a doc for a diagnostic mammogram.

She tried to get an assignment astatine a walk-in clinic, arriving 30 minutes aboriginal 2 days successful a row, but she was turned distant owed to capableness issues each time.

Croskery past tried the provinces' VirtualCareNS system, which connects patients to a household doc done the online level Maple. Twice her sessions timed retired without her seeing a doctor.

She was connected connected the 3rd try, but the doc told her that benignant of referral fell extracurricular of their scope arsenic a virtual attraction supplier and told her to go to Cobequid Community Health Centre.

"I tried everything I could to beryllium seen, but the strategy conscionable kept pushing maine away," she said.

Croskery waited astir 3 hours successful the exigency room, lone to beryllium informed that they, too, could not notation her for a mammogram. The doc told her to telephone the Bedford Basin Women's Health Clinic.

After waiting different period for an assignment astatine that clinic, the shot yet started rolling. She received a referral for a mammogram, which prompted a 2nd mammogram, ultrasound and a biopsy.

Tissue samples were taken astatine the IWK Health Centre connected Dec. 20. Croskery was told the results usually instrumentality up to 10 days to travel back, but it could beryllium up to 2 weeks due to the fact that of the holidays. She reiterated that she does not person a household doctor, and they took down her number.

Five weeks later, she inactive had not heard anything.

"The waiting was a truly bully con crippled I was doing successful my ain head," said Croskery.

"I was saying to my girlfriend, 'No quality is bully news.' And arsenic I was texting that, I virtually felt similar slapping myself crossed the look going, 'What are you doing? You can't instrumentality this arsenic nary quality is bully news. You request to call.' And I thought, I don't adjacent cognize who to telephone now."

'We can't driblet the ball'

Croskery then reached backmost retired to the Bedford Basin Women's Health Clinic. It told her it would question to retrieve her results.

It did, and Croskery's nightmare was confirmed — she had an 11-millimetre cancerous wide successful her close breast. Her diagnosis would acceptable disconnected a flurry of appointments that yet saw her instrumentality to the IWK for a lumpectomy wrong a fewer weeks.

She said the lumpectomy went good but determination volition beryllium further appraisal to find if much attraction is needed.

"I recognize that errors get made. We're each quality and we each marque mistakes and we each driblet the ball," said Croskey, who has a 27-year-old lad and a 30-year-old daughter.

"But this is thing that we can't driblet the shot connected due to the fact that you're impacting not conscionable the idiosyncratic themselves, it's the full family"

Mary Jane Hampton, a health-care advisor successful Halifax, said everything is successful spot successful Nova Scotia for Croskery to person had a creaseless acquisition navigating her case. 

The information that she was met with roadblocks shows determination is enactment to beryllium done to guarantee determination is co-ordination passim the system.

"I mean, with each of the apps that we have, the quality to email patients, to telephone them connected the telephone with the result, that is simply a gross breakdown successful what should beryllium a creaseless and seamless acquisition successful communication," said Hampton.

"But it's not bully capable to accidental that it's unlucky successful this encounter. There should beryllium zero times that followup doesn't happen."

Hampton said it besides reiterates wherefore it's truthful important for patients to beryllium their ain advocate. Find retired erstwhile you can expect to perceive from health-care providers and travel up astatine that time, due to the fact that "no quality is conscionable nary news," she said.

Aaron Smith, a aesculapian enforcement manager with Nova Scotia Health, said the state is moving hard to link much Nova Scotians to superior attraction physicians through caller exertion infrastructure and recruitment, but realizes challenges stay for those who don't person a superior attraction supplier to thin on.

Smith said those Nova Scotians person a fig of options for accessing care, including superior attraction clinics and VirtualCareNS, but helium acknowledged the strategy needs much doctors successful bid to grip the fig of patients who are accessing it, truthful that appointments bash not clip out.

"We request to marque definite we're getting amended each time successful presumption of folks' entree to the attraction they need, erstwhile they request it, astatine the close time, successful the close place," said Smith.

An array of initiatives are underway to beef up the province's complement of superior attraction providers. The state is targeting Australian doctors, providing status top-ups and has started a programme to trim appraisal clip for licensing internationally trained doctors.

When asked astir Croskery's acquisition astatine the Cobequid Community Health Centre, Smith confirmed exigency country physicians cannot springiness referrals for imaging similar mammograms. That's due to the fact that they're not capable to adhere to the request of the referring doc pursuing up with the patient.

That's wherefore it's important not to spot a superior attraction provider, and not an exigency country physician, for issues that volition request to beryllium followed, helium said.

Wanted: diligent feedback

Smith pointed to the province's 811 strategy for patients who request assistance navigating the system.

He besides stressed that the state wants to perceive feedback from patients — the bully and the bad — through its patient relations department.

Nova Scotia Health removed 8,449 radical from the Need a Family Practice Registry successful February, bringing the full down to 95,875 — oregon astir 9 per cent of the population. The provincial authorities says it's aiming to get the fig down to 5 per cent, oregon astir 50,000 people.

The IWK Health Centre declined a petition for an interview. But successful a statement, a spokesperson said the doc who ordered the referral is liable for pursuing up connected the results and sharing those with the patient.

The Bedford Basin Women's Health Clinic did not instrumentality a petition for comment.

Bukun Adegbembo, manager of operations astatine the diligent advocacy group Canadian Breast Cancer Network, said Croskey's acquisition is not unique.

She hears from patients crossed Canada who are met with barriers accessing diagnostic imaging, peculiarly those without a household doctor.

"You person to bash a batch of advocacy work, a batch of calling, conscionable to fig retired wherever you tin really entree care," said Adegbembo.

"Unfortunately, not everyone's going to person that quality to advocate. And I don't deliberation everyone should person to advocate."

Adegbembo said wellness authorities request to amended however they amended and pass patients astir screening programs and however to entree wellness services.

Croskery said she wanted to talk retired astir her acquisition successful the hopes of preventing different mishap.

"It's decidedly near maine feeling angry, but I don't privation to transportation that anger," said Croskery.

"So I conscionable forgive the errors that person been made. I privation to regenerate that choler with positivity astir this, that hopefully this volition marque a quality for idiosyncratic else."