A national organization representing family doctors is calling on Ottawa to make primary care a bigger priority, arguing investments in family medicine could help more Canadians get timely access to a doctor.
Dr. Sarah Cook, president of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, says strengthening family medicine is not just about spending more money, but directing existing and promised funding to areas of the greatest impact.
“Every Canadian deserves access to a family physician,” Cook said.
Cook, who is originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, now practices family medicine in the Northwest Territories. She outlined four areas where she wants the federal government to act.
They are: reducing administrative work, helping new family practices get established, investing in training infrastructure and improving the sharing of patient health information.
Cook said paperwork is taking family doctors away from patients, with physicians spending as much as 10 to 19 hours a week on administrative tasks.
She also wants Ottawa to reduce paperwork associated with programs such as the disability tax credit.
Making it easier for newly trained doctors to establish community practices
Cook said opening a clinic requires physicians to pay for space, staff, equipment and technology before seeing their first patient. Those costs, she argued, can push new physicians toward short-term work rather than comprehensive community family medicine.
The organization is also calling on the federal government to follow through on promised funding to help doctors with startup and early operating costs, particularly in rural, remote and underserved communities.
Greater investment needed where future family doctors receive training
She said expanding medical school and residency positions needs to be accompanied by investments in community clinics, teaching space, technology and partnerships with Indigenous communities and local health authorities.
Her final priority is improving how health records move between provinces, territories and health-care facilities.
Cook said that’s particularly important in the North, where patients may have to travel to other provinces for specialized services.
She said disconnected systems can leave doctors without the information they need when treating patients.
“A stronger Canada needs strong health care,” Cook said, “and a healthier Canada starts with a family doctor.”
