Statement from BC Family Doctors on the 2025 Throne Speech

Every British Columbian should have access to a family doctor who knows them, their history, and their health needs over time. Long-term, relationship-based care—also known as longitudinal care—helps keep people healthier and reduces pressure on the rest of the health-care system.

We welcome the government’s investment in primary care and efforts to bring more health professionals into the system. Pharmacists and nurse practitioners are valuable members of the health-care team and expanding their roles helps patients. But team-based care works best when patients and family doctors are at the centre, providing the continuity and comprehensive care that patients need—especially for those with complex or chronic conditions. Family doctors are specialists in primary care.

The Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) payment model, developed with BC Family Doctors, has been a game-changer. It allows doctors to spend more time with their patients instead of rushing through appointments. But for this model to truly work, we need more support for family doctors to keep their community clinics open and attract and retain more family doctors.

That’s where this speech was missing key solutions. Recruitment and retention remain the biggest challenges. The government must do more to keep doctors in family medicine and attract new ones. That includes:

• Cutting administrative burdens like unnecessary sick notes and excessive paperwork
• Ensuring the LFP model remains sustainable long-term
• Investing in family medicine training by increasing training opportunities across the province and supporting new graduates

We support the government’s commitment to treating addiction as a health-care issue, but family doctors must be part of the solution. That means giving doctors the training and funding needed to better support patients struggling with substance use.

Finally, while new hospitals are important, they won’t solve the primary-care crisis. When people can’t see a family doctor, their health worsens and they end up in emergency rooms. Investing in primary care keeps people out of hospitals and saves the system money.

Family doctors are the foundation of our health-care system. We look forward to working with the government to ensure that every British Columbian has access to the relationship-based, comprehensive care they deserve.

Dr. Maryam Zeineddin
President, BC Family Doctors