Michelle Hoad News Today

If you’ve recently had a routine pap test, you may be waiting months to hear your results.

Pap test results delayed in Ontario; pandemic backlog, staffing shortages blamed. Linda Luyt of Sudbury among those waiting for results.

As an endometrial cancer survivor, Linda Luyt gets quite anxious waiting for the results of her annual Pap test to show she is still free of the disease.

Pap test results delayed in Ontario; pandemic backlog, staffing shortages blamed. Linda Luyt of Sudbury among those waiting for results.

Both LifeLabs and Dynacare, large private labs that process millions of tests a year, acknowledged delays though neither quantified the scope.

Delays to process Pap test results are being felt across much of the country. The COVID-19 pandemic played a role in creating a backlog of all kinds of screening tests — but industry insiders say the problem is made worse by ongoing long-term staffing issues in the Canadian lab sector.

The majority of lab workers in Ontario are considering leaving their jobs and many are feeling burnout similar to nurses, according to the CEO of The Medical Laboratory Professionals Association of Ontario (MLPAO).

The majority of lab workers in Ontario are considering leaving their jobs and many are feeling burnout similar to nurses, according to the CEO of The Medical Laboratory Professionals Association of Ontario (MLPAO).

Researchers studying the working conditions of Ontarios medical lab workers is cautioning that patient safety will slip if the government doesnt intervene to support the sector.

Health-care providers across Canada are being urged to avoid non-essential blood tests amid a global shortage of medically vital blood collection tubes.