Our health care system works fine if one is lucky enough to
have a family doctor. And it works extremely well in a reactive way to emergencies
or urgent cases. It is not so good in a
proactive role and it is dreadful in that role if one does not have a family doctor.
Yes there are medical clinics. Our community clinic,
formerly our hospital, acts as an emergency department, a community medical
practice with a roster of doctors available to those who actually are connected
to one of those doctor’s practices, and a go-to place if one does not have a
doctor. The trouble is, only those with a doctor can get an appointment to see
one of the doctors on the roster. If one has no doctor and one is not in an
urgent situation, then one must go and take a number and wait. Fair enough. One
might need a prescription refilled or to follow up with a doctor regarding test
results. One might need a requisition for blood work, an X-Ray or other tests. But
it matters not. One is not in a separate stream. One is there at the mercy of
fate. Will there be one or more urgent cases arrive at the door before your
turn comes up? If so, one gets bumped. After waiting for three hours recently
in the usual stream of people wanting to see a doctor, a sign was posted: “Only
Urgent cases for the next three hours”. I walked out.
Other clinics in other provinces are separate from Emergency
departments. I know our province of Nova Scotia has a crisis relating to lack
of doctors; so the few must take on many roles. However, that being the case,
one should be creative. Do what it takes to train and hire more practical
nurses, more foreign doctors – or change the system so that other’s than
medical staff can give requisitions for tests or prescribe medication. A little
thinking outside the proverbial box would go a long way in solving this significant
problem.
