By 2023, just 79 per cent of New Brunswickers will have access to a full-time primary care provider, down 14 per cent from 2017.
This is one of many findings from the New Brunswick Board of Health's latest report on access to primary care in the province. According to the article, primary care is a sector that faces many challenges globally in terms of accessibility, continuity and coordination of services.
Compared to other developed countries, the percentage of Canadians who have a family doctor is 86 per cent nationwide, while the Commonwealth Fund (which includes countries like Australia, the US and the UK) boasts an average of 93 per cent.
Even those who regularly receive health care have trouble getting an appointment: Only 26% of Canadians said they were able to book an appointment with a doctor or nurse the same or next day the last time they needed medical care.
The New Brunswick-focused article also includes results from the organization's 2023 Primary Care Survey. Data was collected from October 2023 to January 2024 from 5,010 New Brunswick residents aged 18 and older.
Over the past six years, the number of New Brunswickers with a family doctor has fallen by 14 per cent. Some regions of the province have been affected more than others, with only 67.8 per cent of residents in the Fredericton River Valley region saying they would have a family doctor in 2023. In 2020, 92.8 per cent of survey respondents in the region said they had a family doctor.
In 2020, 51% of New Brunswick residents claimed they were able to get an appointment with their family doctor within five days. The provincial average for 2023 will fall nearly 20 percentage points to about 32%.
Of respondents who have a primary care physician, 69% said they use other health services because their primary care physician is not available.
Outside Ontario, New Brunswick will spend the least on health care, averaging $8,413 per person in 2023.
There's more to come…
