More B.C. doctors seek support, counselling during pandemic, while Ottawa urged to address 'health workforce crisis'

VANCOUVER -

The pandemic has seen an increase in the number of B.C. physicians seeking help and counselling support through a specialized program.

Doctors of B.C. president Dr. Matthew Chow told CTV News the Physician Health Program has experienced a 58 per cent increase in the number of doctors looking for support since 2019.

“What we’re seeing is extraordinary amounts of pressure, extraordinary amounts of stress and fatigue on the medical profession,” he said, and added there has also been a 37 per cent increase in the complexity of each case. “When we speak about case complexity, we’re talking about the needs of the individual and the needs being greater.”

The Physician Health Program offers a 24-hour confidential help line for doctors, residents or medical students and their family members, and can connect them with support in relation to a range of issues, including mental health struggles, substance use, and relationship and work challenges.

While the pandemic has added to the strain felt by health care workers, Chow said this is a crisis that has been building for some time.

“We have always been a health-care system that runs right on the edge in terms of capacity, in terms of relying on our altruism, relying on the strength and courage of our health-care work force” he said. “The pandemic has certainly thrown us over the edge.”

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is now calling on the federal government, including newly appointed federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, to address an ongoing “health workforce crisis” that has only been made worse by the pandemic.

Association president Dr. Katharine Smart said rising rates of burnout amongst health-care professionals and a shortage of doctors and nurses have been issues for some time.

“No question that COVID-19 has of course made things worse, as people have been working really round the clock now for months in the system,” she said. “I think what’s happening now is the light is really being shone on these cracks in our system, and in our health-care work force, and we’re really hoping that the government will start to listen to us and take some action to resolve these challenges.”

According to the CMA, some physicians are leaving the profession because they can no longer cope. Meanwhile, the association said many Canadians still don’t have access to a family doctor.

“I think what we’re really hearing from physicians is so many challenges in trying to provide the type of health care they want to provide to their patients,” Dr. Smart said. “For many people, that is leading to rates of burnout and job dissatisfaction that’s making them choose other things within health care.”

Smart said while training, retaining, and recruiting more doctors and health care workers remains important, the system itself also needs re-working.

“I think what’s clear is yes, we need more people, but that’s not the whole story,” she said. “We also need a system that lets people do their work in a way that they find sustainable.”

Smart said one of the keys to finding a solution will be listening to frontline health professionals, and taking their input into account.

She added one of the ways the system could change would be to have a family doctor work within and alongside teams of other health-care workers, including nurses, nurse-practitioners, dieticians, therapists and others, as well as administrative support to help with the time-consuming paperwork many doctors face.

“I think it’s again adding people to the team that can offload some of those burdens, so that we can do what we do best, which is caring for patients,” Smart said. “Collaborating, working in teams, inter-professional care. These are all ways to better meet the needs of patients, but also to prevent health workforce burnout by making a more satisfactory work environment for the people in the system.”

Chow said he’s hoping something will be learned from what health care workers are experiencing today.

“Going forward, I think we need to build a stronger and more resilient health-care system, that does not rely on constant heroism and adrenaline. We need to be better than that,” he said. “To the public, my message is if you see a health-care worker, if you know a health-care worker, if you have a health-care worker in your life or at your kids school or in you neighbourhood, thank them. You have no idea how much that means to us. You have no idea.”

Doctors of B.C. is also developing new support programs with funding from a $1-million grant provided by the CMA, Scotiabank, and MD Financial Management’s Physician Wellness+ Initiative. They include a physician peer support network, which will train doctors to offer one-to-one peer emotional support, and cognitive behavioural therapy skills training.

In an emailed statement to CTV News, Health Canada said the government “recognizes the tremendous work of physicians and health-care workers throughout the pandemic. They have worked hard to protect Canadians and save lives."

The federal department said Ottawa has provided “significant investments” to support public health measures, including a one-time top-up of $4 billion to the Canada Health Transfer in this year’s federal budget.

“Health Canada will continue to work closely with provincial and territorial partners and stakeholders to advance health care priorities, including addressing healthcare workforce challenges," it said.

The Physician Health Program’s confidential 24-hour line can be reached at 1-800-663-6729.