YOUR PERSPECTIVE: We need health care solutions from the B.C. government, and we need them now

The tragic health care crisis faced by communities in the Fraser Valley and beyond is simply appalling. Just earlier last week, a well-known Abbotsford resident made local news as they said they were forced to lay seriously ill in a crowded Abbotsford Regional Hospital hallway for more than a week. They spoke of the lack of dignity they felt, and it’s just one of the latest examples of what we’re seeing in B.C.’s understaffed and overwhelmed healthcare system while patients, doctors and nurses are doing their best to keep up.

Residents face long wait times in emergency rooms, walk-in clinics and the NDP’s Urgent and Primary Care Centres (UPCCs) because many of them — one million British Columbians or 1 in 5, in fact — are without a family doctor. Patients are also seeing temporary ER closures and ambulance delays due to staff shortages. What’s worse is the lack of effective action from the current NDP government. Despite calls from the Official Opposition, patients, and health care professionals to do something about this mess, they place blame elsewhere instead of stepping up to fix it.

British Columbians are tired of waiting for the government to act. Following the NDP’s lack of response to the 30-day action plan we suggested more than a month ago, last week the BC Liberal Caucus announced a further set of solutions to tackle the crisis. The goal of these proposed ideas is to address the primary care crisis with a focus on physician and healthcare professional retention. We emphasize cooperative consultation with the physician community and call for the expansion of UBC doctor training spaces from 288 to 400; the creation of a second medical school at SFU, as the NDP promised but hasn’t delivered; and an increase in residencies available for international medical graduates, from 56 to 150. Our plan would also reduce barriers for internationally-trained physicians who have passed the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Exam.

This is in addition to recommendations we’ve already given the government such as compensating current family physicians for increasing operating and overhead costs, simplifying the complex fee schedule, and reducing redundant paperwork that continue to slow down our physicians. Our plan would also audit and address the dysfunctional NDP UPCCs and see the development of a health human resources plan — something the NDP has been promising for years.