Access to family physicians in southwestern ontario

Shortages of family physicians (FPs) have been reported, but accurate data on the scope of this problem are sparse. The study objective was to determine the proportion of the population in southwestern Ontario without access to a regular FP and sources of usual medical care for individuals with and without a regular FP.

Random-digit dialling was used to obtain a stratified, random sample of households from 10 counties in southwestern Ontario, which resulted in 1,387 participants (60.5% cooperation rate). Adults reported on themselves, while a random selection of parents reported on their children, yielding data on individuals ranging from 0 to 95 years of age.

9.1% (95% CI = 7.8% to 10.6%) of individuals did not have a regular FP. Most individuals without a regular FP used walk-in clinics (55%) or emergency rooms (13%) as their usual source of care, while 5.9% reported not receiving medical care. Lack of physicians accepting new patients was the most common reason for not having a regular FP (27%), although some individuals chose not to have one (9.9%) or had alternative access to care (13.2%).

Based on the assumption that the individuals who chose not to have a FP, or who had access to alternative care, would continue not to want a FP if one were available, we estimate that 5.1% of the population of southwestern Ontario requires a FP. The health implications of not having a regular FP in Canada need to be examined.