P.E.I. doctors sound alarm about proposed patient targets

Family doctors are pushing back on new patient targets being introduced by P.E.I. Maria Sarrouh reports on what measures are fuelling the friction.

In some P.E.I. health clinics, hallways are filled with frustration.

Months of consultations produced a ground-breaking Physician Services Agreement last year. It made the province the first to recognize family medicine as a specialty, and promised a 35 per cent pay bump over five years.

But now, doctors say they’ve been “blindsided” by a draft operating guide that sets patient-load benchmarks.

“We desperately need new bodies here to help us with the work. Back up a year ago, we had a lot of optimism. We had a lot of hope,” said Dr. Trina Stewart, a family physician in Summerside, P.E.I., and member of the Longitudinal Family Medicine Working Group.

Health P.E.I.’s proposal calls on family physicians to take on 24 appointments per day, at an average of 15 minutes each, and 1,600 patients per doctor.

Those targets are unsustainable and unsafe, says Dr. David Antle, another Summerside family physician and LFM Working Group member.

“There’s no way that we’re going to be able to perform any patient care at near the level that our patients expect and deserve,” he said.

The Medical Society of P.E.I. says it has been shut out of the decision-making process around these targets.

“We started out being very involved. But unfortunately, things went off the rails,” said MSPEI’s president, Dr. Krista Cassell. “To think that we set out on this excellent path, with a good process and somehow it’s been disregarded. And it’s unclear where this all fell apart.”

The College of Family Physicians of Canada says the most recent data puts the national average closer to 1,400 patients per doctor, and adds the higher benchmark “could affect the quality of care.”

Health P.E.I. insists the figures are flexible and fair.

CEO Melanie Fraser says 1,600 patients is a maximum, not a minimum, and most family doctors will have a lower target tailored to their practice.

“We sit down with each physician and we say, ‘Are you part-time or are you full-time? Do you have staff in your office? How complex are your patients?’ This isn’t about penalties; it’s about measuring what works and improving care,” Fraser said.

She says the guidelines introduced aren’t far from standards seen in other provinces.

But doctors say some of their colleagues are considering quitting.

“There are pillars of various communities who we would never expect to consider leaving the province, who are considering leaving the province,” Stewart warned.

P.E.I. has the highest rate of adults without a regular doctor of any province, according to Statistics Canada data.

Physicians have until Friday to submit their feedback, and they say what happens next could determine who holds on to their stethoscope, and who hangs it up.