The Atlantic premiers are promising to create a regional doctor registry to make it easier for physicians to practice throughout the four provinces.
However, they say it’s only a small piece of the puzzle when it comes to fixing the health-care system — and the regulatory body overseeing Nova Scotia’s medical profession agrees.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia says the new regional licensing register will help cut down on red tape and paperwork.
“These physicians will indicate their willingness to be on the register, provide the necessary consent for the sharing of the information, and once on the register will essentially be fully licenced in all four provinces,” explains Registrar and CEO Dr. Gus Grant.
He expects the measure could help deliver better quality of care for patients, but likely won’t have a big impact on physician numbers.
“If it means that once a year an emergency room – say in Amherst – is not closed because a physician from Moncton at the last second can come down and pinch-hit,” he says, “that’s an enormous effect on the people in Amherst.”
The new doctor registry was announced after a meeting of the Council of Atlantic Premiers in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on Monday. The Atlantic premiers say physicians can travel already, but this will allow them to temporarily pitch in to help address health-care gaps among the provinces, including covering a doctor’s vacation.
“They can get a license in as many provinces as they want,” explained Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston. “It’s just an onerous, complicated process that they wouldn’t follow to do a locum in one province for a couple of weeks in the summer. But this will make it easier for that mobility, and it’s the first step in a bigger discussion that has to happen.”
P.E.I.’s premier says it won’t fix everything, but it will be a help to the ailing health-care system.
“Nothing that we do on health is a magic bullet that will just miraculously fix everything,” says Dennis King. “But I think this is just one more small thing that keeps us moving forward.”
Nova Scotia’s Liberal Health Critic says the move won’t reduce the family doctor waitlist, which currently sits at more than 133,000 people.
“The way to fix health-care is to bring more family doctors in and not to be poaching and to be taking from other provinces,” says Brendan Maguire. “It’s a bit of window dressing.”
Grant isn’t so sure provinces will pull from the pool of doctors in Nova Scotia.
“Canadian Medical Licensing standards are high,” he says. “The physicians who are practicing in any of the provinces choose to practice there. So I think it’s unlikely will see significant movement.”
He says the endeavour might be especially appealing to new doctors who want to explore different communities before settling down for their practice.
Grant hopes the premiers keep a close watch on the initiative to track its impact.
In the meantime, the president of the New Brunswick Medical Society issued a statement saying she’s encouraged by the new register.
“Increased physician mobility is an important component in addressing health human resource issues throughout the Atlantic provinces and across Canada,” says Dr. Michèle Michaud.
“The new registry will provide greater flexibility for physicians while improving access to care for patients. We continue to support the Canadian Medical Association’s efforts to realize a pan-Canadian licensure model, and this is a positive step in that direction.”
The Atlantic registry is expected to launch on May 1.