New rules say Alberta doctors must provide after-hours care

WATCH ABOVE: Alberta doctors are being told they’re required to make sure their patients have access to care outside of office hours, but as Global’s Heather Yourex reports, very few actually do.

CALGARY – The Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSA) has strengthened rules around the kind of care family doctors are required to provide patients outside of office hours. The college says doctors in the province have been expected to provide after-hours care to patients for decades, but very few actually do.

“About a third of our members have after-hours care arrangements in place, but two thirds of our members do not,” said Kelly Eby, director of communication for the CPSA.

The new rules require physicians to either collaborate with colleagues in an on-call rotation, or pursue a formal written agreement with a service like Health Link.

“It’s not enough to just refer patients to call Health Link,” said Eby. “Physicians need to ensure Health Link has some sort of access to the doctors within that practice, so they can be reached if something is urgent.”

The new rule is in response to an 18-month-old report into the death of Greg Pricem, a 31-year-old who died of testicular cancer in 2012. A December 2013 report by the Health Quality Council found the health system ultimately failed him.

“It was just a series of missteps and a lack of continuity of care that lead to his death,” said Dave Price, Greg’s father, who is now part of a patient advocacy group called Health Arrows.

The report made 13 recommendations to address the continuity of care problems directed at Alberta Health Services, the Alberta Medical Association, the Alberta Society of Radiologists, the Officer of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Price says while it’s encouraging to see the college implement recommendations from the report, he’s also disappointed  that more hasn’t been done.

“There’s a lot of recommendations there that really haven’t been acted on, and we look forward to having more things done.”

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