Patients losing patience.

The article does not make clear what steps are being taken to ensure that Ontario citizens gain access to family doctors. It seems obvious that more doctors need to be trained and/or recruited from other provinces or countries. We are spending billions to fund and improve our military to send Canadian troops off as cannon fodder for U.S. instigated invasion of Afghanistan but we have no money to fund our health care system.
The situation seems better where we live in Manitoba. The problem here is closure of emergency departments and smaller hospitals but we are able to usually see our family doctor on the same day we phone for an appointment and if we do go to emergency there is often no one there so there is no waiting at all.


July 3, 2008
Patients losing patience
850,000 lacking family doc
By KEVIN CONNOR, SUN MEDIA
Thomas Joyce says he wouldn't have needed surgery for his chronic ulcers if he could have found a family doctor to treat his condition years ago.
The Mount Sinai patient's beliefs were echoed yesterday in a report by a top medical association that says the shortage of family doctors is hurting patient care.
The report, by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Science, says if patients had access to a family doctor for controllable chronic conditions they wouldn't be making thousands of emergency room visits and hospital admissions.
"If I could have found a doctor two years ago I don't believe I would be here today," said Joyce, who is one of the 850,000 Ontario patients the ICES estimates can't find a family doctor.
Having family doctors to treat chronic conditions will keep patients out of hospitals and free up much needed beds, according to the Ontario Medical Association.
"Our hospitals and emergency rooms offer high quality care for patients, but this is an extremely and inappropriate way to care for patients who have chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and asthma," said Dr. Tom Weinberger, chairman of the OMA's section of general and family practice.
"These patients will likely experience complications from their illnesses that could otherwise be prevented and in many cases their overall conditions will worsen without regular attention by a family doctor."
The report also says that 630,000 patients have gained access to a family doctor since 2003.
"Recently there has been progress made in getting some people access to a family doctor, but it is clear we must stay vigilant in our efforts or else we will continue to drain precious health resources and force patients to suffer unnecessarily," said Dr. Ken Arnold, president of the OMA.
"The lack of access to a family doctor, especially for those with a chronic disease, negatively impacts the quality of life of patients and places unnecessary stress on our hospitals and emergency rooms."
The type of patients most likely adversely affected by not having a family doctor also include those with depression, degenerate joint disease, chronic bronchitis, hypertension and emphysema.
---
FEELING THE PAIN
Report findings into a study of not having a family doctor.
-Approximately 15% of Ontario patients with a chronic care condition receive a poor continuity of care, which results in trips to the hospital.
- Each year, there are roughly 118,000 trips to an emergency department that should have been handled by a family doctor.
-About 17,000 patients are admitted to hospital annually because they don't have access to a family doctor.
- People suffering depression were more likely not to have a regular family doctor.
Source: Institute for Clinical Evaluation Science