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Everyone deserves to have a family doctor.

The medical profession is overburdened with administrative tasks that don’t require actual doctoring. A recent survey found that 65 per cent of general practitioner doctors are considering leaving their practices or becoming specialists.

Writing sick notes, dealing with pharmacies, basic office administration, etc. are effectively wasting the family doctor’s valuable time. Hiring more staff to assist with these important but mundane matters would free up the doctor who could in turn see more patients.

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I suggest that the federal and provincial governments pay the family doctor’s rent and pay the family doctor’s payroll.

This could stop the decrease in the number of general practitioners. It might even attract more medical graduates to become family doctors, and possibly increase the need for more (currently vacant) office space.

Doctors studied medicine, not business administration.

Susan Vesala

Windsor

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