British Columbians Finding It Difficult To Access A Doctor

British Columbia lags behind other provinces when it comes to access to a family doctor, but had far fewer cancelled surgeries, according to a new national comparison of health-care systems.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information entered a new era on Wednesday with an inaugural report analyzing and comparing four “priority topics,” including healthcare access and operational issues like staffing, in what it’s calling a “snapshot” with newly available data that will be repeated and improved over time.

When it comes to access to a primary care provider, 88 per cent of Canadians have access to a family doctor, but only 83 per cent do in B.C.

When it comes to surgeries, the report found that in the first two-and-a-half years of the pandemic, British Columbia saw seven per cent fewer surgeries than in 2019, compared to the national average of 13 per cent.

The report says four out of five Canadians would like to access their health information electronically, with nearly half of British Columbians doing so.

Canada lags well behind other developed countries when it comes to doctors sharing patient information electronically with other doctors, with just 38 percent doing so in 2021 compared to 67 per cent elsewhere.