Dear Colleagues,
I wanted to take a moment to reflect on our recent board meeting, which left me deeply appreciative of your ongoing commitment to family medicine. Our strategic session and focus group discussions were incredibly insightful. Your openness about the challenges you face—your fatigue, your relentless dedication to your patients and the immense sense of duty you feel—was remarkable. Please know that we hear you and are here to support you.
Here’s what you have told us
The conversations underscored the increasing complexities of patient care and the burden of administrative tasks that are stretching family doctors to their limits. Burnout is a critical issue, impacting your ability to deliver the quality of care you aspire to. Despite these hurdles, your optimism and innovative ideas for enhancing family medicine were truly inspiring, with an emphasis on team-based care emerging as a key focus.
Here’s how we plan to address these challenges
Sustaining family practice
We are actively promoting collaborative primary care models which aim to enhance access, alleviate your workload and create a healthcare system where both doctors and patients can flourish.
Reducing administrative burdens
The struggle with excessive paperwork and sick notes is a significant issue. We have raised this with Health Minister Josie Osborne and are hopeful reforms will be implemented to reduce these burdens soon including eliminating sick notes.
Advocating for policy improvements
Family medicine deserves solutions that reflect the critical nature of your work and your invaluable role. We are committed to advocating for policy changes that recognize and support this with innovative solutions.
What’s next?
Over the coming months, we will be working to bring together and validate the input we’ve heard on how BC Family Doctors can best serve its members. We will keep amplifying your voices, advocating and ensuring that no decision about family medicine is made without the doctors who live it every day. You are not alone in this struggle. Please continue to reach out, share your thoughts, and stand with us as we push forward.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all that you do. We see you. We stand with you. And we will not stop fighting for you.
We are a community and a strong one too, with a united voice to make changes to our working conditions, our worth and the resources we need for our patients.
With gratitude and determination,
Maryam Zeneidenn,
President, BC Family Doctors