PC Initiatives Working to Enhance Patient Care, Reduce Doctor Burnout
Significant progress in healthcare at risk of being lost by NDP without concrete plan: Cook
WINNIPEG — Work by the previous PC government is proving to be successful in increasing patient access to healthcare professionals and reducing administrative burdens for physicians in Manitoba, Kathleen Cook, PC Shadow Minister for Health, announced today.
In a report published earlier this month by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Manitoba has been recognized as leading the country in reducing unnecessary paperwork for doctors, thereby ensuring more time to provide patient care as well as improving physicians’ mental wellbeing.
“Unnecessary red tape exacerbates challenges in our healthcare system like access and wait times, in addition to being a top contributor to physician burnout,” said Cook. “Our PC team recognized the issue and took immediate action.”
In early 2023, the then-PC government partnered with Doctors Manitoba to establish a joint task force focused on reducing excessive and unnecessary administrative burdens on physicians, informed by doctor experience and feedback. The task force released its first progress report in spring 2023, setting out an initial goal to reduce 10% of the burden by December 2023. Meeting the target was estimated to save 63,000 hours and enable 190,000 additional patient visits.
As a result of this work, the CFIB report praised Manitoba as being “fully committed to its initiatives to measure and reduce the physician administrative burden,” finding the province to have achieved significantly more progress on the issue than the rest of Canada.
The NDP government has so far set a precedent of cutting successful healthcare task forces; one of their first moves in office was to abandon a task force created to reduce surgical and diagnostic wait times. However, as the historic agreement reached between the previous PC government and Doctors Manitoba includes a commitment for the province to continue efforts to reduce administrative burdens, PCs have ensured that momentum gained by the task force to reduce red tape remains NDP-proof.
The landmark agreement also includes a permanent funding model for virtual visits, another area of healthcare that has seen significant strides under the PCs.
The previous PC government worked with QDoc—a free, provincially-funded online platform that began in 2021—to connect Manitoba patients with local healthcare professionals by video in real-time. In 2022, PCs announced support to help the nascent QDoc grow its platform and address human resource and workforce needs. In 2023, QDoc launched a successful pilot project with the PC government to add nurse practitioners (NPs) to its service for virtual patients in the Westman region.
NPs in Manitoba can perform medical procedures, diagnose and treat illnesses, prescribe medications, and order tests, among a broad variety of capabilities. By adding NPs to QDoc’s services, Manitoba patients have been able to receive faster, more accessible care, regardless of where they live. During the pilot, which ran from October 2023 through the first week of January, QDoc saw 2,500 visits, with up to seventy-five per cent of patients choosing to see an NP.
“Our PC team is proud to have made great strides in reducing patient backlogs, relieving stress on the healthcare system, bolstering the workforce, and bringing care closer to home for Manitobans,” said Cook. “Though there’s still work to be done, we’ve left the NDP with significant progress. That momentum is at risk of dying out the longer Wab Kinew and his health minister take to reveal their own plan and take action.”
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