Recent data from the Angus Reid Institute shows that British Columbians face the greatest difficulty in accessing specialist care in Canada. Doctors of BC has long emphasized that wait times remain a significant barrier to patient care across many specialties in this province. Data from our 2024 Specialist Waitlist Survey also indicates average waits of 4 weeks for urgent cases, 10 weeks for semi-urgent cases, and 10 months for non-urgent cases.
Without immediate action, these waitlists will continue to grow, patient care will worsen, and BC risks further erosion of specialist services in essential areas of care. We are ready and willing to collaborate with the Ministry of Health to develop and implement both immediate and long-term solutions, including establishing a provincial database, funding active waitlist management, and supporting specialist team-based care.
Dedicated recruitment and retention efforts are also urgently needed to keep specialists in BC and attract new ones from outside the province, especially to underserved rural and urban areas. This includes ensuring that BC remains a desirable place to live and work by providing physicians with safe environments to deliver care, fair compensation, reduced administrative burden, and the resources required for high-quality patient care.
Patients deserve timely access to care, and specialists must have the capacity and resources to deliver it. Addressing these systemic issues needs to be a top priority.
– Dr Adam Thompson, President of Doctors of BC
