Primary care for everyone: Health-care leaders urge policymakers to urgently make fixes that would serve 6.5 million Canadians without primary care
OTTAWA, ON, April 5, 2023 /CNW/ - The Public Policy Forum today released a new report entitled Primary Care for Everyone: An urgent to-do list for reform, written by some of the country's leading voices in health-care reform.
Everyone in Canada should have timely access to a publicly funded primary care team within 30-minutes of where they live or work, the report authors argue. Primary care should be available to every person, just as public school in a local neighbourhood is available to every child in Canada. It should aim to improve the health of every population just as schools aim to effectively educate every child.
It is imperative that reform involve patients' input, that implementation of primary care teams be accelerated, and that primary care data governance and infrastructure be improved.
In an attempt to "supercharge" reform, particularly for the 6.5 million people living in Canada who do not have access to a primary care team, the authors created a list of must-dos for policymakers. The list includes making national licensure of health professionals happen, tracking progress toward everyone in Canada having access to primary care, reforming compensation models and implementing the concept of 'one patient, one chart.'
Primary Care for Everyone is the second report in a year-long project, coordinated by PPF, to provide provincial and federal governments with up-to-the-minute policy advice as the current health-care crisis unfolds. Other subject areas will be examined in coming months, including: data and digital technology, care and wellness of older people, and mental health services.
The report is authored by an expert panel that includes:
Dr. Danielle Martin
MD, MPP, CCFP, FCFP, DSc
Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Dr. Bob Bell
MDCM, MSc, FRCSC, FACS, FRCSE (Hon.)
Professor Emeritus, Department of Surgery, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Georgina Black
Vice Chair & Managing Partner, Government, Health & Life Sciences, Deloitte Canada
Jodi Butts
Beth Cowper-Fung
NP-PHC, MN
Clinic Director, The Georgina Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic
Dr. Vivek Goel
CM, MD, MSc, FRCPC
President and Vice-Chancellor
Professor, Schools of Pharmacy and Public Health Sciences
University of Waterloo
Dr. Alika Lafontaine
BSc, MD, FRCPC
President, Canadian Medical Association
David MacNaughton
President, Palantir Technologies Canada
Dr. Kwame McKenzie
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
CEO, Wellesley Institute
Dr. Jane Philpott
MD, CCFP, MPH, PC
Dean, Queen's University Health Sciences
Jake Starratt-Farr
MSW, RSW
Member, Patient Voice Group of the Canadian Medical Association
Dr. Verna Yiu
MD, FRCPC
Interim Provost and Vice-President (Academic), University of Alberta
For more information please contact:
Alison Uncles
Vice President, PPF Media and Communications
Public Policy Forum | Forum des politiques publiques
[email protected]
SOURCE Public Policy Forum
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