The survey appears to back warnings of a worsening doctor shortage: more than 4,000 physicians plan to stop practising within the next two years, the data suggest.In addition, 35% of doctors who responded to the census survey said they plan to cut back on their hours over the next two years. Doctors work an average 52 hours per week and provide an extra 130 hours per month of on-call duty, the survey shows.%26quot;We don’t have enough doctors now and we’re not producing enough to fill the void,%26quot; says Dr. Brian Day, president of the Canadian Medical Association.The survey also reveals a wide split in how doctors rate access to care, and the increasing feminization of medicine.Most doctors in Canada are happy, but admit to being frustrated by paperwork and say they’re feeling squeezed by expectations and sicker patients.Of the new MDs under 35 replacing retiring baby boomers, more than half — 55% — are women.%26quot;Women in their child-bearing years tend to work fewer hours and the survey bears that out,%26quot; says Dr. Ruth Wilson, a family physician in Kingston, Ont., and president of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.%26quot;Our system has got to accommodate the fact that if lots of women are coming into medicine, we’re going to need even more doctors to meet the needs of Canadians.%26quot;There’s also a generational effect going on: Younger doctors — men and women — are working fewer hours.Overall, the 2007 National Physician Survey found 75% of physicians are %26quot;very or somewhat%26quot; satisfied with their professional lives, versus 17% who said they were %26quot;very or somewhat%26quot; dissatisfied. When asked about their relationships with their patients, 83% said they were very or somewhat satisfied.But a significant proportion remains frustrated by system funding (57% said it was a barrier to providing care to their patients), paperwork, and not having test or relevant patient information available when needed.The data show a split in how long doctors say it takes to get their patients into care, including the top five priority areas for reduced wait times.For instance, 65% of family doctors and specialists say access to cardiac care is %26quot;excellent, very good or good,%26quot; while 16% call it %26quot;fair or poor.%26quot;Similarly, 70% of family doctors rate access to cancer care as good to excellent, but a significant minority of 19% — nearly one in five — calls it fair to poor.There was no regional breakdown.%26quot;Sixty-five per cent sounds good, but what if you or one of your relatives were one of the 20%,%26quot; says Ms. Day. %26quot;We should be demanding the very best in Canada.%26quot;Fifty-five per cent of family doctors rated access to orthopedic surgeons as fair to poor. Ma. Day says hip and knee replacement surgery waits have gone down but waits for shoulder and ankle surgery have gone up.Access to emergency or urgent care is worse than it was in 2004, when the first survey was conducted. And more than half of family doctors rated access to ophthalmologists and psychiatrists as fair to poor, especially for psychiatrists.Half (49%) rated waits for CTs, MRIs and other advanced diagnostic tests as fair to poor.Only 37% of specialists said they could see a patient with an urgent problem within one day. Another 27% said urgent cases have to wait up to a week to be seen.Nearly 40% of doctors surveyed said they have partially or completely closed their practice to new patients.%26quot;We’re stressed and we’re stressed because we’re constantly hearing every day in our offices of people who can’t get in to see a family doctor,%26quot; Wilson says. %26quot;We’re always wishing we could do more.%26quot;Seventy per cent of doctors said increasing patient expectations are putting more demands on their time.Doctors say patients want things explained that they’ve read on the Internet, even when it’s not entirely relevant to their complaint. And patients %26quot;rightly expect%26quot; timely access to tests and other specialists, she says.The College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Canadian Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada conduct the survey.Of the 60,811 physicians eligible to complete the survey, 19,239 responded, for a rate of 32%.
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