On Monday, we marked Remembrance Day—a time to honour veterans for their service and sacrifice. But many veterans face a new battle when they come home: trying to get basic healthcare.
According to the Veterans Ombudman’s 2023-2024 annual report, veterans across Canada are struggling to find family doctors. This lack of access to primary care has been identified as one of the biggest issues veterans face today. The report revealed that without family doctors, veterans can’t complete medical forms needed for their disability claims and reassessments.
This problem isn’t just affecting veterans; it’s happening all across British Columbia. Many people in our province also can’t find a family doctor, which means they can’t get regular healthcare, manage their health properly, or benefit from longitudinal, relationship-based care.
What’s the solution?
- Attract and keep more family doctors:
We need to make it easier for new family doctors to start practicing and help current doctors stay in their jobs. Family doctors need to be able to take care of themselves and their families, as well as their patients. Unlike most other healthcare workers, family doctors don’t have access to employment benefits, like health/dental benefits or pensions. Eighty-five per cent say they lack funded health and dental benefits. The rising costs of business and inadequate support for family medicine clinics is overwhelming. Investment in long-term funding for family medicine clinics will build a sustainable primary care system that ensures healthcare for all. - Use team-based care: Adding physician assistants, nurses, social workers, and other healthcare workers to clinics can help increase capacity for patient care at family medicine clinics, ensuring patients get the care they need. Expanding access to integrated, team-based care is essential to delivering high-quality care for all British Columbians. We need to prioritize funding and support for team-based care in family medicine clinics, enabling better patient access to care throughout the province.
- Simplify paperwork: We need to cut down on the amount and complexity of forms and paperwork that doctors have to fill out. Family doctors spend up to 30 per cent (19 hours per week) of their time on administrative tasks. We can eliminate and simplify administrative burdens to free up physician time for patient care. An estimated 261,000 hours (about 1 million patient appointments) could be saved each year by eliminating sick notes alone!
As we remember the sacrifices of our veterans, let’s also push for better healthcare for them and everyone in B.C.