Saskatoon clinic shares their struggles to support need for family doctors

Saskatoon medical clinic Mount Royal Family Physicians (MRFP) is opening up about their frustrations to serve the growing number of patients without a family doctor.

Dr. Rebecca Waley is a family doctor at MRFP, delivers babies at Jim Patterson Children’s Hospital and does long-term care out of Cozy Nest Care. She’s sharing her heartbreak in learning how to say no to more patients.

“It sucks because nobody got into the business of medicine to say no to helping people,” says Waley.

“Every single day I get someone asking if I can take on another patient or another family or another family member of one of my current patients.”

A report from the Angus Reid Institute (ARI) shows that the clinic’s need for family physicians is felt across Canada.

Those surveyed by ARI share a similar story of struggles to find consistent medical care. The report found 26 per cent had persistent problems seeing a doctor and 33 per cent faced some issues.

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Those who are comfortable with their care are the smallest group at 16 per cent.

“We get yelled at on the phone a lot. We get a lot of backlash. And I think it would be great if someone through the SHA were to just be able to start advocating for patients,” said Mount Royal Family Physicians office manager Tiera Cardinal.

Cardinal says they feel the shortfalls every day from those who they provide service to, and the frustrations of turning away those they can’t.

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“We see patients prescribed antibiotics that they’ve already been prescribed for the same infection, which would be inappropriate. We see patients get prescribed antibiotics they’re allergic to because complete health histories aren’t taken and they might not recognize the name of a drug as one that they’re allergic to,” said Dr. Waley.

Dr. Waley says while she sees patients feeling the strain, one of the contributing factors to shortages is that doctors are having a tough time.

“I don’t get any days off. I don’t ever have a moment where I can go away unless I arrange to have someone cover my practice,” says Dr. Waley.

As the need grows, so does the investment in alternative solutions. Beyond recruitment and retention, the province has been looking at physician assistant programs, expansions of testing facilities in hospitals, and investments in virtual health care.

Although many acknowledge the benefits of innovation, Dr. Waley says there’s no replacement for a family doctor when it comes to practicing medicine safely.