One in five adult Canadians don't have a family doctor, study finds

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A recent survey and peer-reviewed analysis have found British Columbians are the third least likely to have a family doctor in Canada and the most likely to use walk-in clinics.

The analysis is based on survey responses from more than 9,200 people across Canada, collected in the fall of 2022 and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal Tuesday by 21 doctors and medical researchers from across the country.

“If you are in B.C., if you compare yourself to people living in Ontario, you’re much less likely to have a family doctor or nurse practitioner,” said Kiran. Walk-in clinic use highest in B.C. Almost half of those who took part in the survey reported visiting a walk-in clinic once or more in the 12 months before they filled out the 15-minute survey.

The COVID-19 pandemic made the situation in Canada even worse as many family physicians opted for early retirement, note the authors. Existing research also shows that burnout is driving others to seek a similar path in the coming years. “We see people in Canada want relationship-centred primary care, yet at the same time so many of them don't have that option and are turning to walk in presumably because they're the one place that people can get any care,” she said.

In October 2022, the B.C. government introduced a new payment model to recruit and retain more family doctors in the province. By the end of 2023, 5,000 family doctors were working in long-term primary care, 708 more than the year earlier, according to the Ministry of Health.

 

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