The Canadian mother was not only reprimanded for not being "patient enough" to wait for her family doctor to be available, but also threatened to fire her son for taking her son to an appointment-free clinic...... That's the embarrassment of the Canadian healthcare system, but can it be said that it's the family doctor's fault?
Difficult for patients
According to CTV News, Jennie Carr, who lives in Mississauga, Ontario, has a seasonal streptococcal infection that requires antibiotics to treat, but she couldn't make an appointment with her family doctor that day.
Source: Courtesy of Jennie Carr
In order to prescribe the medicine early, Carl took her son to a walk-in clinic, however, she soon received an email from her family doctor:
The doctor blamed her for why she didn't wait until she was free, why she took her son to the walk-in clinic – and if it was that urgent, why didn't she go to the emergency room.
The doctor also threatens Carl that such actions will get her removed from the list.
Afterwards, Carl found a new family doctor.
In Canada, most people have their own family doctor who provides them with primary care and diagnosis; If further treatment or testing is needed, they will be referred to a specialist.
GPs are more knowledgeable and familiar with the patients on their list, and letting them judge the patient's condition and decide on the next step of treatment can effectively reduce the waste of medical resources – after all, Canada is free of charge.
However, a common problem is that there are too few family doctors, too many patients, and sometimes people want to see a doctor, they may have to make an appointment until next week, and if it is very urgent, they can go to the emergency room, but like Carl's......
At such times, some patients choose to go to walk-in clinics, such as this woman in Ottawa, Ashley Desrochers, whose legs suddenly began to swell severely, however, her family doctor was only available after two months.
图源：Global News
Naturally, Droucher didn't want to wait two months, so she went to an appointment-free clinic, and who knows, it was just a coincidence that she met her family doctor there and arranged a visit for her in a few days.
Like Carl, DeRochers was warned by her own doctor that she would be fired from the family doctor's list if she came back to the clinic and found another doctor.
As a patient, DeRoches felt that this was ridiculous, and if he was in a situation where he needed to see a doctor and couldn't see him, what choice did the patient have? They can only go somewhere else.
A similar story happened to another parent, her son who was treated during a summer camp that was five hours away from the family doctor's office, but just like that, she came back and found herself expelled.
If in-person visits can't be done, what about online?
Edward Chan, a resident living in North York, got his orthoses through an online consultation for a while because he didn't want to spend so much time on appointments and waiting, online, it only takes 20 minutes.
However, when he made an appointment with his family doctor for an annual check-up, he was told that he had been dismissed.
It's also hard for doctors to do
This kind of experience really makes people feel ridiculous and angry, but Chen bluntly said that he does not feel that it is a problem with family doctors, and that it is the current system of the Canadian health system that puts patients and family doctors in an embarrassing situation.
In Ontario, Canada's healthcare system, there is a fixed fee for each patient treated, allowing doctors to see a doctor without worrying about specific costs.
However, if a patient under their name goes elsewhere to seek treatment, their family doctor's fee will be deducted from a portion of the fee, which is about 50% to 100% of the service fee.
These deductions are not applied to doctors' base salaries, but to additional bonuses they may receive, representing about 10 percent of doctors' earnings, which the provincial health department hopes will incentivize doctors to provide better care and reduce the number of patients visiting other places.
During the consultation process, the Department of Health advises patients to contact their registered family doctor first, and if they cannot be contacted, or if the family doctor is unable to see them in a short period of time, they should go to another place, such as an appointment-free clinic.
Under this system, doctors promise to provide medical care to everyone under their name, and if patients need to go elsewhere, it is a "failure".
图源：The Canadian Press/AP, Jeff Roberson
However, this so-called "incentive" shifts the contradiction to the family doctor and the patient.
In Canada, it is impossible for a family doctor to have only one patient, and they cannot be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, which means that there are bound to be some patients waiting.
However, patients can't predict what will happen to them, they can't make an appointment with the doctor as early as last month, I may fall my leg in a few weeks, and when they need to see a doctor, who wants to wait a few more weeks if they can see a doctor right away at an appointment-free clinic?
Under this system, the number of people willing to become family doctors is also decreasing, but as the population increases, the demand is increasing, and it is no wonder that some people feel that it is really very lucky to be able to meet a family doctor who gets along well and has reliable medical skills.
The shortage of family doctors also makes many patients choose to "wait for a long time" because they do not want to be fired by their family doctors, but who is responsible if the waiting process delays the disease?