Alberta can’t afford to lose more family doctors
By Lethbridge Herald on May 24, 2023.
Editor:
Resuscitation is in your hands. Every Albertan will access healthcare at some point and our tax dollars are meant to ensure the system is there when we need it.
As family doctors, we signed up to care for patients over a lifetime: we want to be there for you when you need our help.
Currently that isn’t happening. The list of Albertans without a regular provider has grown to over 600,000, and those lucky enough to have a doctor often can’t get an appointment for weeks.
Emergency rooms have become the default option for many, which results in patients waiting hours and skyrocketing system costs.
Lack of consistent and timely access to primary care should be as unacceptable as hearing there will be no teachers to educate your children for the foreseeable future.
Without Albertans demanding the health care they deserve things are only going to get worse.
The signs of health system collapse are all around us. EMS might not get an ambulance to you in time. Pediatric and adult emergency wait times are often excessive. If you need to be admitted, there may not be a bed for you, and you could be asked to leave before you feel ready to go home to make space for others.
There are not enough specialist physicians nor the resources they need to provide timely care, so referrals can take months to years. Lab and imaging appointments are being booked further and further ahead. Surgeries and procedures are being postponed.
In all these cases, the people providing care are doing the best they can in an under-resourced system.
Alberta’s family doctors have stretched themselves thin trying to fill the gaps in care, but our capacity is dwindling. The number of physicians accepting patients on the “Alberta Find a Doctor” website has dropped by over 75 per cent these past three years.
Meanwhile the site tracked nearly one million views in the past year alone. With this supply/demand mismatch, it is hard for anyone to take a break when needed, even for things like maternity leave or illness.
This is a recipe for burnout. The Sections of Family and Rural Medicine at the Alberta Medical Association recently surveyed family physicians to assess current state and future plans.
The desperation in the answers received was almost palpable, with one member simply responding, “the joy is gone.”
A massive 54 per cent of respondents (500 doctors) said they will be making changes to their practice over the next three years: reducing hours or patients seen, narrowing their scope, moving, or quitting medicine altogether.
Those who would consider staying in family practice stated they need to see more of what other provinces are already offering: payment for time spent on paperwork, less administrative burden, hope, and respect from our government.
The 2023 Canadian Residency Match Service (CaRMS) results for medical students clearly illustrate that we face problems with recruitment as well as retention.
This year Alberta had an unprecedented number of empty seats in the first round of CaRMS, 42 compared with the two in British Columbia and zero in Saskatchewan.
Even after the second round, Alberta had 22 spots left while our neighbours – who have been investing in primary care – filled completely. Whatever our next government looks like, we need elected leaders with the political courage to turn this situation around.
When you question candidates about Alberta’s health system, you could ask what their plan is for:
* Listening and working with Alberta’s doctors to find common solutions;
* Holding government accountable for appropriate funding and support so every Albertan has access to a family physician led care team;
* Reducing time spent by family doctors on computer systems and administrative tasks instead of patient care;
* Making Alberta an attractive place to retain and recruit family doctors. Family doctors know what it will take to revive Alberta’s health care system.
The unfortunate truth is that we have been trying to prevent this outcome for decades. Prevention is, after all, our specialty. Moving forward will require a government willing to listen to the health needs of communities and that is committed to trusting health experts when they ask for an investment in Alberta’s future.
During this provincial election we urge you to take an active role in the future of your healthcare system.
Alberta cannot afford to lose more family doctors or to miss the opportunity to create the conditions in which they, and you as their patients, can thrive.
Dr. Jon Hilner, Acting President, AMA Section of Family Medicine Dr. Samantha Myhr, President. AMA Section of Rural Medicine Dr. Katherine Kasha and Dr. Duncan McCubbin, Co-Chairs, AMA Joint Physician Advocacy Committee
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It’s a Canada wide problem, not about funding.
Is that… a screenshot from glassdoors? What exactly do you think that proves? Does it tell me how many openings there are in Alberta vs other provinces? Does it tell me why physicians are choosing to avoid Alberta? Does it tell me if those are average salaries or representative of the healthcare profession as a whole?
It’s been know for over 10 years that an upcoming shortage of doctors Canada-wide would be happening.
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Fake news, NDP scare tactics. In the last couple of months, I and many, many others have found new doctors. Enough of the NDP lies, already.
Do tell, what’s the secret? The https://albertafindadoctor.ca/ site is still showing no family doctors available.
To counter the NDP lies, check out NDPLies.com
It doesn’t surprise anyone I know why we have these huge shortages, after watching how Albertans allowed these phoney conservatives, Reformers, treat our doctors, nurses and teachers. It’s been my experience of years of dealing with them that money is not the problem it’s the lack of respect Albertans and our reformers have shown them. Family members and friends who worked in the health care industry under Lougheed and Getty never saw this type of stupidity and they don’t blame them for leaving. They would have also.