A North Bay doctor is warning that physician burnout locally is a huge problem and is only going to get worse.
Dr. Taylor Lougheed tells BayToday that it's happening now, and that it's not just your family doctor.
"It's a big problem...a huge problem and when we talk about burnout in healthcare, it's important to recognize that it's it's across the board. Nurses and health care workers and certainly physicians."
The Ontario Medical Association did a survey a couple of years ago, and three-quarters of all physicians at that time reported experiencing burnout.
"I would suspect that's even worse today if we look at our local circumstances. Northern Ontario and rural remote locations routinely have higher levels of burnout, there's insufficient staff, there are higher demands, and less access to care. And so I would suspect locally, the problem of burnout is even higher than what we would see across the province."
Doctor burnout is having a dramatic impact on your healthcare in ways you may not have even considered.
"Physicians looking at cutting back, maybe earlier retirement, reducing the workload, and the type of hours they might be available to do because they're feeling burned out and overwhelmed. And I think there's some indirect ways, in terms of a patient interaction perhaps being a little bit more brief, perhaps less of a feeling of compassion from the patient. The physician may be more frustrated."
The interactions of care on a case-by-case basis can be impacted and the total access to care can also be significantly impacted, both of which can be problematic.
The Ontario Medical Association is warning that a shortage of family doctors in the province is only going to get worse if burnout and growing administrative burdens are not addressed,
As of March 2022, there were 2.2 million Ontarians who didn't have a regular family doctor, an increase of 450,000 people in just two years, the association says, and an OMA survey of its members suggests that 40 per cent of physicians are considering retiring in the next five years.
See: Local doctor shortage nearing the boiling point
And: Ontario family doctors facing burnout, shortage to worsen, OMA says
Dr. Lougheed feels strongly that the situation, unfortunately, is almost guaranteed to get worse unless there is dramatic action taken.
"Family medicine and primary care is an absolute crisis. We do not have sufficient family doctors for our population locally certainly, but across Ontario, there's something like 2.2 million Ontarians that don't have access to family doctors."
Lougheed says when you don't have robust access to primary care, there are significant impacts on every other area of medicine.
"The emergency departments are collapsing. We are seeing multiple closures at small sites. Our site was under extreme pressure through the summer and into the fall. So unless there is a concerted effort at the policy and funding level, the situation will certainly get worse."
"I think locally we're we're struggling in terms of wait times, certainly in the emergency department and having access to care. I think we're fortunate however that patients are aware that we really do have an excellent team. We've got a core group of physicians here locally that are very passionate.
"I know no one wants to be waiting for 14 hours in the emergency department. I would argue that is inappropriate. But patients will say, 'You know the wait is not ideal but I'm appreciative of the team being here and providing the care and working together to provide the best possible care.' So I think. we have heard from patients that there is recognition that this is a system issue. It doesn't have to do with directly with the nurse or the receptionist or the physician. It has to do more broadly with how the system is functioning and how it's not functioning."
See: Local ER issues critical physician staffing notice
And: Wait times for emerge going to get worse say doctors
But there is an upside to being a doctor in North Bay, as their support group here is highly effective.
"We are fortunate we have a fairly collegial and tight-knit group of physicians in North Bay. Compared to a lot of the larger cities in southern Ontario, for example, we do have the opportunity to maintain relationships both personally and professionally. That may not be possible in larger centres where just the total number of physicians can be overwhelming. So here we do have an opportunity for a lot of collaboration. There is a lot of recognition of some of the pressures between different sections of the hospital or community in terms of who is able to provide care at certain times with the wait lists or what the challenges may be. So I think there is everyone trying to work together within some of those limitations. To support each other, it's not perfect, but I think we are fortunate to be able to have that type of community."
See: The northern Family Physician: A rare & fantastic breed
Still, the situation persists and is quickly getting worse if something is not done.
Lougheed brings up the concept of 'moral injury' which is part of the burnout discussion...the emotional exhaustion.
Moral injury he says, is a bit of a different take on the subject. It's looking at the system failing the individual.
"What I mean by that is, you've got highly resilient medical professionals, doctors, and nurses who go through rigorous training. They're prepared to work in stressful environments and when they see that they are not able to provide the type of care that they were trained to provide or would hope or expect to provide, it creates a deeper level of distress. 'I am not able to provide that type of care I feel my loved ones and community deserve.' That's not burnout. That's a deeply rooted system problem that is causing the people who work in the system to burn out and so it's it's a bit more problematic,"
