BC NDP promises health-care reforms at kitchen table session

B.C. NDP leader David Eby waves as he gets back on his bus after a campaign stop at a supporter's farm, in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, September 20, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The leader of the BC NDP announced several election promises around health-care reform at a literal kitchen table discussion with Burnaby residents, sending voters a clear message about how he wants them to see him.

David Eby made Monday's policy announcement at a Burnaby home, flanked by the homeowners and two sisters, who shared personal stories about their experiences with the health-care system, and how they'd found new family doctors after losing their longtime providers.

Eby announced that if he forms government after next month's election, he will expand the current diagnostic powers of pharmacists to include testing for routine conditions like strep throat and urinary tract infections, slash paperwork for doctors, including short-term sick notes, and push through provisional licences for doctors and nurses qualified to work in other parts of Canada to practise immediately.

The NDP government has been under pressure to provide more primary care due to several factors: a pre-existing backlog of roughly one million British Columbians without a GP, followed by a steep rise in immigration to the province, as well as an exodus of health-care workers burnt out by their intense jobs.

CTV News asked why his government hadn't enacted the provisional licences already, and Eby said that they'd given the opportunity for colleges – which are responsible for professional oversight and licensing – to oversee the process, but since it has been taking so long, the government intends to step in to fast-track temporary licences while the permanent licensing process continues.

When CTV News pointed out that practising doctors in walk-in clinics are closing early once they reach their government-imposed limit of 50 paid patient visits per day and asked why he hadn't lifted the cap, the leader insisted he's focused on long-term solutions.

"We want to people to get quality care, we want them to get the care that supports them and their families, which is why our focus has been around reducing the emphasis of the previous government on walk-in clinics and increasing the emphasis on resources towards bringing on new family doctors," he replied.

Eby claims that if the current rate of connecting 4,000 patients per week with a family doctor continues, all patients registered on the government waitlist will be matched by the end of 2025.