Family doctors are gatekeepers for medical care in Canada, but the proportion of adults with access to a primary care provider has declined, a new survey suggests.People wait outside a walk-in medical clinic in Surrey, B.C. in 2022. More family medicine residency spots went unfilled in Canada this year than last. Family doctors are often the first place Canadians turn for medical care, but the proportion of adults with access to a primary care provider has declined, a new survey suggests.
In comparison, 93 per cent of adults in peer countries have a doctor or place they usually go to for medical care. Dr. David Barber, who chairs the section on general and family practice at the Ontario Medical Association, said primary care has often been shown inThe federal government is striking deals with provinces and pledging billions of dollars to help solve Canada’s family doctor shortage, but experts say it’s not enough to address the situation for millions of patients without a primary physician."It seems that the hospitals tend to run the show, and that's where the money goes.
According to the survey, just over 10 per cent of Canadian respondents said that during the past year, they had either not filled a prescription or skipped doses of their medications due to the cost. "What no one wants is for someone to be debating at home whether or not they should visit the emergency room or a walk-in clinic because they have poor access to care, and then later find out that it would have been better if they had been seen sooner."