You don’t have a family doctor, and you can’t get an admission bed. So you end up waiting and waiting in the ER for a physician who might not be able to help much, writes Dr. Brian Wall.
I was lucky to find another doctor after my family GP of decades retired at 85. He wasn’t allowed to keep practicing after 85. He moved to an advisory role in another clinic giving up his practice. He wasn’t able to find someone to buy his single practitioner clinic. The real estate costs and the many services where patients are passed around is the new model listed as reasons he couldn’t sell it. I suspect since everything was still in paper records didn’t help.
The new GP is one of many doctors in the same clinic. He does mostly phone calls with some in person visits but usually it’s phones calls first and it’s 7 - 20 days before one can get an appointment. Anything urgent will need to be a drop in clinic which are full most of the time, or the ER worse case.
I have to wonder how much minor time sensitive cases are burdening the system overall. I ended up at a drop in clinic as the last appointment this summer due to an issue with bandages after a surgery. If this had failed it was the ER next for me as there was no way the GP could fit me within a week unlike the old days with my GP. Thankfully a adjustment to my bandages and cream solved my infection but it was still minor.
I don’t think there’s a easy fix coming soon anytime…
I was lucky to find another doctor after my family GP of decades retired at 85. He wasn’t allowed to keep practicing after 85. He moved to an advisory role in another clinic giving up his practice. He wasn’t able to find someone to buy his single practitioner clinic. The real estate costs and the many services where patients are passed around is the new model listed as reasons he couldn’t sell it. I suspect since everything was still in paper records didn’t help.
The new GP is one of many doctors in the same clinic. He does mostly phone calls with some in person visits but usually it’s phones calls first and it’s 7 - 20 days before one can get an appointment. Anything urgent will need to be a drop in clinic which are full most of the time, or the ER worse case.
I have to wonder how much minor time sensitive cases are burdening the system overall. I ended up at a drop in clinic as the last appointment this summer due to an issue with bandages after a surgery. If this had failed it was the ER next for me as there was no way the GP could fit me within a week unlike the old days with my GP. Thankfully a adjustment to my bandages and cream solved my infection but it was still minor.
I don’t think there’s a easy fix coming soon anytime…
You are lucky, in QC where I am it’s one of the worst waiting time. And now nurses and others are in unlimited strike (with teachers, etc)