The provincial government won’t likely deliver on a pledge to provide every British Columbian access to a family doctor by 2015, although “great progress” has been made, says B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake.
Five years ago, the B.C. Liberal government promised that all B.C. citizens who want a family doctor would have access to one by this year. In 2013, the government negotiated funding of $132.4 million with the Doctors of B.C. (formerly the B.C. Medical Association) and named it the GP For Me program as part of its re-election platform.
“I think it’s unlikely that we will be able to fulfill that completely in 2015,” said Lake, at the B.C. legislature. “But I can tell from the work that’s going on that we’ve made great progress.”
The aim of the GP For Me program, in addition to recruiting and retaining new doctors, includes shifting to more “team-based-care,” which means bringing in more health professionals such as nurse practitioners, for example, to reduce physicians’ load. The program also has incentives for doctors to increase their ability to treat more frail patients, and to use more telephone consultations and conferencing options.
According to Health Match B.C., a free health professional recruitment service funded by the province, there are postings for 317 permanent family doctor positions in B.C. There are 56 postings on Vancouver Island, including 16 vacancies in Victoria.
NDP MLA Judy Darcy questioned the government on its “broken promise” during question period last week.
“We’re now one-third of the way through 2015, and there are still hundreds of thousands of British Columbians without a family doctor,” Darcy said.
There were 200,000 British Columbians in need of a family doctor in 2013, according to Statistics Canada’s 2014 Canadian Community Health Survey. That’s up from 176,000 in 2010.
The Health Ministry argues the number of doctors practising in B.C. today has increased, to 5,675 in 2013 from 5,380 in 2010. The most recent data is not yet available.
However, B.C.’s population grew by about 220,000 during the same period, to 4.678 million in 2012-13 from 4.455 million in 2009-10, meaning the number of people in need of a family doctor increased. A full-time doctor could care for around 1,200 to 1,400 patients a year, but some work part-time.
Lisa Winbourne, 50, of Victoria, has been looking for a family doctor for more than two years, since moving to the Island from Vancouver.
She thought she had found one in Duncan and was willing to make the 45-minute commute. But when the doctor’s office found out where she lived, she was turned down.
The program associate at Royal Roads University said she was recently told she needed a family doctor for a referral for a diagnostic exam.
She said she eventually used the name of her former family doctor in Vancouver.
She continues to use walk-in clinics. “That’s the worst for me,” Winbourne said.
“You have no history with them. You’re 15 minutes and a prescription.”
