Editor:
Re: Enough doctors to go around, Aug. 12 letters.
I would like to thank Dr. Connie Ruffo for taking the time to comment on my letter (Appreciative of quality care, Aug. 12) and being so kind to provide me with the Primary Care Access Clinic and phone number.
I have taken her advice, of course, and I called the above clinic at 604-531-3111 on Aug. 19. The answering machine came on, so I left a detailed message regarding the reason for my call, e.g. looking for a family doctor.
I have not received a response yet.
Which makes me think, who is actually calling the shots in our health-care system these days? Are our hard-working physicians being compromised by a system that allows government and bureaucrats to subjugate their independence for the sake of profit or political expediency? Have unnecessary layers of administration taken the power away from our physicians to provide the unique quality care that we so need? Is the tyrannical politico-corporate campus now firmly in control?
I might be old fashioned, but I can’t imagine medicine can be practised without physicians. I would miss the independent doctor who serves patients with unfettered primary care.
Today, way too many doctors just want to come into a clinic and do their shift and go home.
The once-bragged-about quality care by family physicians is dwindling, since we no longer have that intimate doctor-patient relationship due to lack of time. Ten minutes here and there is simply not enough time to accomplish and remain relevant in a patient’s care, no matter how competent and compassionate the physician.
The “A GP For Me” initiative might need some finetuning.
Maggie Bernet, White Rock