B.C. family doctors call for sick days, pensions ahead of October election

VANCOUVER — Representatives of family doctors in British Columbia say giving physicians paid sick days, vacation coverage, extended health and dental benefits and a pension plan is one way to help attract more doctors to work in the province.

The BC College of Family Physicians and BC Family Doctors published a series of requests for whichever party forms the next government after this October’s provincial election, including a call for access to basic employment standards and benefits like other health-care workers.

Dr. Tahmeena Ali, a past president of BC Family Doctors, whose term ended this June, said it can be hard for doctors to access high-quality benefits because each of them qualifies as self-employed rather than part of a larger group.

“If we want to encourage young medical students and family medicine residents to choose longitudinal family medicine, which is really the bedrock of our health-care system, we need to support them, not only with team-based care, but also financially through paid sick days and vacation coverage and extending the health benefits so that they are not taking a hit when they choose family medicine,” she said.

Ali said a potential change could involve funding a professional organization to negotiate with insurance companies and create a plan that doctors can choose to buy into.

“There are 6,000 family doctors in British Columbia, and if a fair number of them were able to get into this benefit plan, then the cost savings on (an) individual basis will be extensive,” she said.

“(It would mean) not only cheaper benefits, but also a much more wide ranging (plan) versus when you’re trying to negotiate as a single, self-employed person.”

The two organizations say more than 700,000 British Columbians don’t have access to a family doctor and nearly 40 per cent of family doctors are set to retire or reduce clinical hours within five years.

“I think crisis is an overused word, but I can’t think of another way to describe our entire health-care system,” Ali said.

“I think what we’re seeing is that when you don’t have enough primary care, there’s spillover effect on emergency rooms and specialty care and misdiagnosis and more sickness is inevitable. And then secondly, when you don’t have family medicine as a backup, then you have nowhere else to go but emergency rooms, which again, leads to the crisis.”

The organizations are also asking politicians to streamline paperwork including through legislation to eliminate employer sick note requests for short illnesses, and to fund additional supports like nurses in family medicine clinics.

Dr. Vincent Wong, president of the BC College of Family Physicians, said in a statement that doctors are being pushed to the brink by a system that isn’t supporting them and that a new “advocacy tool kit” will allow them to advocate for themselves and their patients.

The kit for doctors includes questions to ask candidates during the election campaign and tips for creating effective social media posts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

The Canadian Press