On May 19, the BCCFP recognized BC Family Doctor Day by taking a group of 50+ family doctors to meet with government. We were there to ensure they understand that family medicine is in crisis.
In the morning, we hosted a breakfast for members of our legislative assembly. We were joined by 10 Ministers and 40 MLAs (18 NDP, 19 Liberal, 2 Green).
BCCFP President, Dr. David May opened the event, and then invited Dr. Marjorie Docherty, Dr. Praveena Dharmaraj and Dr. Ana Boskovic to speak to a handful of slides and share with the audience the experience of being a family doctor.
In David’s opening comments, he set the stage for the presentation. “I guarantee that there is not a family doctor here who doesn’t feel undervalued, over worked, under compensated and cut out of the process of planning the future of our healthcare system,” he said. “I genuinely believe that what is decided in the next few weeks will affect primary care for a generation.”
The presentation was well received and for another hour, family doctors met with MLA’s and Ministers and answered questions about BCCFP members’ experience. We ensured family doctors were at every table.
In addition, BCCFP representatives met one-on-one with Minister Dix, the Chief of Staff for Premier Horgan and a handful of other Ministers.
In every conversation, we stressed that we need change now, and we need a seat at the table in any discussion about solutions, to ensure that what we need, is what we get.
We were very pleased to see Question Period in the House focus almost exclusively on family medicine, with Liberal Opposition holding the Minister of Health to task with the information we shared at the breakfast meeting.
We are under no illusion that what we accomplished today, is enough. We have work to do, and the BCCFP board is committed to doing that work on behalf of our members.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make our efforts in Victoria a success.
