More Canadians have access to primary care: survey

A new survey shows access to primary care in Canada is improving, but many gaps still need to be addressed.

According to new numbers from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), 5.9 million people don’t have regular access to a family doctor, nurse practitioner or primary care team — that’s down from the last survey in 2022, when it was 6.5 million Canadians.

Dr. Tara Kiran, lead investigator and scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, tells 1130 NewsRadio that it’s nice to see things seem to be improving, but it’s still not good enough.

“Five point nine [million] is still a huge number that don’t have access, and we know we need to do better,” said Kiran.

She offers a few reasons why things appear to be headed in the right direction.

“Across the country, many governments have recognized how critical primary care is and how our current system is not meeting needs, and they’ve started to invest in primary care. We see things like new agreements between governments and doctors to pay doctors differently or to pay doctors more. So, we’re making family medicine more attractive for physicians. We also see an acceleration of international medical graduates being licensed to practice in the country. We also see more medical school spots opening up, and specifically more family medicine residency training spots.”

She says investing more into what’s known as team-based care — including funding for nurses, nurse practitioners and other team members — is also allowing physicians to see an increasing number of patients.

There are no provincial or territorial specifics in the survey, but the CMA is expected to release a more detailed report next year.

“We know everyone has a right to a public school when they move into a new neighbourhood… that’s not the same thing with primary care, but we need to make it that way.”

Despite the improvements, Kiran says there are still many challenges ahead for the health-care system.

“Access to primary care is not equal in this country. Our findings show, people who are living with a lower income, fewer of them report having access to a family doctor or a nurse practitioner. We also found men, and people who are diverse genders… they are less likely to have access to primary care. We also see big age differences. People who are younger, fewer of them are reporting having access to primary care than people who are 65 and older.”

She says the survey’s findings were unexpected at a time when the population is growing and aging simultaneously.

“We’ve seen in some jurisdictions, provinces making short-term, virtual care or temporary in-person clinics available to people who don’t have any care at all. And what we need to do is invest very heavily in team-based care across the country… because at the end of the day, any of these band-aid solutions, whether they’re walk-in clinics, urgent care clinics, or virtual-only clinics, none of them are as good as ongoing primary care.”

Kiran is calling for more funding from both the provincial and federal governments.

“How would it look if we actually approached primary care more like we approach the public school system? We know everyone has a right to a public school when they move into a new neighbourhood… that’s not the same thing with primary care, but we need to make it that way.”

As a first step, she says governments should set the goal to ensure everyone has access to primary care, and then fund it.

“We need to approach this with a sense of urgency — 100 per cent. Many people who have a family doctor or nurse practitioner aren’t getting seen in a timely way, whether that be for urgent issues, or after-hours or even if their doctor is away — less than 50 per cent of people can actually get care if their doctor is away.”

The survey also reported Canadians’ frustration with not having access to their medical records. Several also shared concerns around ensuring doctors’ appointments are “culturally safe” for the country’s diverse population.