Only One In Ten Family Doctors Accepting New Patients In Ontario

No one likes having to go to the doctor, but in this province citizens should feel fortunate to have one at all.  

Only one in 10 doctors are accepting new patients in Ontario, making it extremely difficult for people to find a family physician.  

“Every single doctor I went to, they’re all not accepting patients, just not accepting,” frustrated patient Peter Costa said. “Even my mom’s doctor won’t even take me.”  

Costa has been searching for a family doctor for seven years and has been forced to go to walk-in clinics whenever he needs a checkup.  

“You come to a clinic, it’s different. They don’t want to prescribe certain things because they don’t know you,” he said.  

According to a new survey by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario a mere 11 per cent of general practitioners are accepting new patients into their practices compared to 38 per cent five years ago.  

“The results of the 2005 physician survey demonstrate the significant access issues facing our health care system today,” said College President Dr. Dale Mercer.  

The highest percentage of family doctors can be found in Toronto, at 22 per cent, while eastern and southwestern parts of the province have the most competition for medical care with only five per cent of the available physicians.  

There are approximately 13,000 GPs in Ontario, making up about half of the total number of doctors.  

“What those statistics actually reflect is that, after the agreement that we did with Ontario’s doctors which incented family physicians especially to pick up more patients, they did exactly that,” said provincial Health Minister George Smitherman.

Experts believe reducing the amount of paperwork family doctors have to do might not only help reduce the crunch, but could also convince more young doctors to enter that field rather than specialize.  

“Family physicians are finding the ever-increasing workload a problem, there’s a great deal of issues around the volume of paperwork that family physicians have to do,” Dr. Mercer said.   Another challenge involves keeping physicians i n this country – currently about 9,000 Canadian-trained doctors are practicing in the United States.   

“While much progress has been made increasing the number of physicians entering the system each year,” said Dr. Mercer, “it is clear that the government and other key stakeholders, including the College, must continue to focus their efforts on finding creative solutions to health human resources issues for the foreseeable future.”

Highlights of the report, courtesy CPSO:

• The average age of practising physicians is now 51.7 years of age, up from 49.0 in 2000
• The proportion of practising physicians approaching retirement age continues to increase with a greater proportion of specialists in the retirement range cohorts
• Since 2000, the number of family physicians accepting new patients has decreased steadily (38.4% in 2000 to 11.4% in 2005.)
• When scope of practice is factored into the equation, the number of family physicians actually accepting new patients is 3.6%