New patient targets for family doctors could hurt P.E.I.'s reputation, says national college

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 13

The College of Family Physicians of Canada is raising concerns implicit caller targets for household doctors connected P.E.I. and calling connected each parties to enactment unneurotic to find a solution.

"I'm feeling beauteous sad. There seems to person been a important breakdown successful spot and successful the relationship, and that's truly hard, erstwhile radical halt being capable to spot 1 another," assemblage president Dr. Carrie Bernard told CBC News: Compass big Louise Martin.

Last week, the Medical Society of Prince Edward Island announced plans for ineligible enactment against Health P.E.I., citing what it says is simply a breach of its statement with the province.

The nine said the caller targets for however galore patients each doc needs to judge are not what it agreed to erstwhile it signed a caller doc services statement with the state past year.

Bernard said that agreement, which made P.E.I. the archetypal state to officially admit household medicine arsenic a specialty, a determination that includes higher pay, was celebrated crossed the country.

But she said the caller argumentation improvement undermines that advancement and tin marque physicians consciousness not valued and respected by the strategy successful which they play a foundational role.

Health P.E.I.'s caller operational usher includes cardinal show indicators, oregon KPIs, that see a request that each household doc volition spot 24 patients a day, based connected an mean assignment being 15 minutes long.

It besides says each full-time household doc should person a minimum of 1,600 patients connected the books, oregon sheet size, which Bernard calls an "arbitrary number."

Penalties tin beryllium imposed if the minimum isn't met.

Impact connected recruitment and retention

On Monday, P.E.I. Health Minister Mark McLane told CBC News that the targets are intended to assistance the authorities cod accusation and measure however the caller doc services statement is working.

He besides pointed retired that Health P.E.I. was giving doctors and their relation six weeks to supply feedback connected the caller guidelines, and said determination volition beryllium nary punitive measures during the archetypal twelvemonth of the agreement.

Bernard agreed that accountability matters.

"I don't deliberation immoderate household doc thinks they should not beryllium accountable. We expect the accountabilities, however, to beryllium informed by the professionals who are really providing the care," she said.

"This conscionable benignant of came retired of nowhere, without consultation and treatment and collaboration and negotiation."

She added that mounting a broad fig for diligent panels is excessively simplistic and doesn't bespeak the world of household practice.

Bernard warned that conscionable arsenic the quality of past year's statement was celebrated crossed the country, this argumentation displacement could person consequences connected doc recruitment and retention.

"Family doctors talk, and they speech to each other, not conscionable to recruiters," she said.

"So the bully quality communicative 100 per cent was good shared crossed the state with large excitement, and close present determination is simply a important intermission successful that bully quality and a important 2nd look crossed the state astir what's going to hap successful P.E.I."

New people 'out of keeping' with nationalist average

Bernard said the 1,600 fig is "out of keeping" with the nationalist mean of astir 1,200 patients per household physician.

"The contented of numbers is that if a doc has excessively galore patients for the fig of hours they person disposable to spot their patients, you mightiness person a household doc successful name, but you whitethorn not beryllium capable to really spot your household doctor," she said.

She added that adjacent the 1,200 mean tin alteration greatly depending connected the complexity of patients.

For instance, doctors who service galore patients with chronic illnesses, arsenic good arsenic newcomers oregon exile families who necessitate translation, whitethorn request to walk much clip per visit, which means they tin grip less patients overall.

The aforesaid is existent for physicians with added responsibilities, specified arsenic teaching oregon taking connected enactment roles successful the assemblage oregon infirmary system, she said.

"In smaller places similar Prince Edward Island, wherever we're asking galore household doctors to instrumentality connected enactment roles — aforesaid thing," she said. "If you person to instrumentality connected a enactment role, either successful your household wellness squad oregon astatine the hospital, that limits the fig of patients you tin see."