Atlantic Canada could lead effort to ease mobility for doctors, nurses between provinces

Efforts to create regional licensing for health care professionals in Atlantic Canada could be the vanguard for similar changes nationally, a leading advocate says.

The four East Coast premiers called this week for common licensing for doctors, nurses and other health professionals, saying allowing them to easily move between provinces would improve people’s access to care.

The registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador, Dr. Linda Inkpen, said work has actually been underway for a year to align licensing regimes in Atlantic Canada.

Inkpen, who is also president of the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada, said the regional work is an offshoot of an issue that has been on the national radar for at least a decade as issues around internal trade gained prominence.

READ MORE: Atlantic premiers want free movement of doctors, nurses among provinces

She said the issue has gained added impetus over the last few years.

“Anything that we can do that enhances mobility of our physicians helps directly and indirectly the public and the patients whom we exist to serve,” said Inkpen.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Anything that we can do that enhances mobility of our physicians helps directly and indirectly the public and the patients whom we exist to serve," said Inkpen.

At the national level, Inkpen said ongoing talks have been focused on two areas – the streamlining of regular licensing for fully licensed doctors with no disciplinary history, and to help free up locum physicians, who move from province-to-province for fill-in work.

“We are hopeful … that we will have come to an agreement if not in all colleges across Canada, certainly in some colleges, so that we can make that process a little easier for our physicians,” she said.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Inkpen concedes it will take longer to get some form of agreement nationally, however, she believes something can be in place in Atlantic Canada sooner.

“It’s going to take a little bit longer but we are talking months, we’re not talking years,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's going to take a little bit longer but we are talking months, we're not talking years," she said.

“We are talking I would say within 12 months.”

The national work is more complicated and will require “more than the colleges to sort it out” Inkpen said. She said provinces and territories will need to get more involved, because colleges are governed by 13 different pieces of legislation.

WATCH: Global News coverage on health care

2:15 New test identifies childhood cancer

• New test identifies childhood cancer
• Peterborough Public Health and community partners form an opioid emergency response team
• Ottawa to fund programs, mental health services at La Loche high school: Trudeau
• Peterborough Health Coalition shares report on violence in long-term care facilites in Ontario
• Negative effect social media has on mental health

Previous Video

Next Video

Atlantic Canada’s premiers want to see movement to improve mobility across a range of professions.

But they believe it’s especially important for health care workers such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists, given the region faces challenges posed by an aging population and higher-than-average incidences of chronic diseases.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said it’s part of the puzzle to improve access to primary care in his province, where many people don’t have a family doctor.

“One of the biggest complaints that we’ve heard around the whole process is how difficult it is to be allowed to practice in the province,” he said.

“We want to provide some consistency within the region, and I would argue once we are able to do that it will probably go national.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We want to provide some consistency within the region, and I would argue once we are able to do that it will probably go national."

Janet Hazelton, president of the Nova Scotia Nurses Union, said she has talked to a nurse in Alberta who wants to move east, but has been waiting for three months for a temporary licence.

“I’m not sure why sometimes it takes so long,” said Hazelton of the time period it can take to work in another province.

READ MORE: Nova Scotia premier hopes to have a common Atlantic minimum wage

She points to Ontario, where she says registered nurses are currently being laid off.

“They are laying off registered nurses and we (Nova Scotia) can’t hire enough. But if it’s going to take them three months to get a licence then that’s a deterrent.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They are laying off registered nurses and we (Nova Scotia) can't hire enough. But if it's going to take them three months to get a licence then that's a deterrent."

She said harmonized and streamlined licensing would also help nurses who live in border areas and have to pay twice if they want to work in both provinces: “That’s a lot of money.”

Dr. Sheila Marchant-Short, registrar for the College of Registered Nurses of Prince Edward Island, said the issue has the attention of national nursing bodies, and there are “certainly benefits to figuring something out.”

“As an Atlantic group we haven’t had a really fulsome discussion yet,” she said. “So we will in a response to the Atlantic premiers, but we aren’t there yet.”