MD situation requires a new approach

Re: “Don’t give up on finding MDs,” editorial, May 12.

Simply adding more money is not a sustainable solution to good primary care for British Columbians. A full nine per cent of the total budget of the provincial government goes to doctors’ compensation.

B.C. has more family doctors than ever — and more than the Canadian average — but we also face increased demand from an aging population, and many doctors working fewer hours or in walk-in clinics rather than full-service family practices.

We are challenged to take a new approach. That’s why the province helped set up Divisions of Family Practice — groups of local doctors working to make improvements to the system.

Through their work under A GP for Me in the past two years, 100,000 more people now have a family doctor or belong to a primary-care clinic who previously did not, and 60,000 more British Columbians were transitioned to a new provider after their GP retired.

Good primary care is more than simply connecting a doctor and patient; it’s about meeting all patient-health needs, creating better access to care providers and increasing quality of care. We need to look at the issue from a whole system perspective to do this.

Building on the strong foundation of A GP for Me, the ministry, doctors and health authorities are working on a broader primary-care access strategy. It focuses on expanding team-based care — including nurse practitioners — as well as better integration between different parts of the system and a proactive approach to prevent people at risk ending up in hospital.

This approach will provide better access and better care. Terry Lake Minister of Health