B.C.’s College of Physicians and Surgeons says it has no plans to follow Ontario’s lead in relaxing its policy against doctors treating themselves and family members amid a chronic shortage of physicians in rural, remote and First Nations communities.
In both Ontario and B.C., physician colleges have policies against doctors treating themselves, family members and others close to them, except in emergencies or for minor issues if no other qualified health-care professional is readily available.
Ontario’s independent regulatory body, however, recently said it will allow doctors practising in underserved remote, rural and Indigenous communities to provide medical care to family members — including ordering tests and treating illnesses and injuries — if there isn’t another option, such as virtual care, or an alternate health-care provider within a reasonable distance.
That policy was approved by the board of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in May and communicated to physicians in the June issue of its digital publication “Dialogue.”
In some areas, the only doctor available to patients might be someone they’re related to or have a close relationship with, the policy notes.
Laura Zilke, spokesperson for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, said safeguards will remain in place “to ensure high-quality care and minimize risks to patient safety.”
Zilke said the policy continues to prohibit ongoing episodic care for family members or others close to the physician and requires care to be transferred to another provider as soon as practical.
Doctors also can’t do intimate examinations or prescribe narcotics to people close to them, except in an emergency, and are not allowed to provide psychotherapy to family members.
In B.C., doctors are not permitted to treat themselves, family members or others close to them except in minor and urgent situations when no other physician is available, under the practice standard of the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
They are also prohibited from prescribing narcotic or psychoactive medications to themselves, family members or others close to them.
The Medical Services Commission of B.C. does not provide payment for services to a registrant’s family or household members.
Doctors of B.C. president-elect Dr. Adam Thompson, a family physician in Courtenay, said his association — representing more than 16,000 physicians, residents and medical students — will not be asking the college to amend its practice standards with regard to physicians treating family in remote areas.
Of all the critical changes that could help with the doctor shortage, “that would be lower on the priority list at the moment to help with improving access to care,” Thompson said in a phone interview.
Thompson was co-lead of a group that, with the province, introduced the so-called new Longitudinal Family Physician Payment Model in February 2023.
He said that model has greatly helped in the recruitment and retention of family doctors, by better compensating them for the actual time they take to care for patients.
It’s those kinds of innovations that are needed to improve access to primary care, he said.
Thompson said several physicians and nurse practitioners from the U.S. are visiting the Comox Valley over the next few weeks, and “actively looking” to move to the area.
— With files from The Canadian Press
