Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
National

Well-being of Canadian doctors declining: survey

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 25 Aug, 2022 09:46 AM
  • Well-being of Canadian doctors declining: survey

TORONTO - The well-being of physicians across Canada has significantly decreased with many doctors reporting poorer mental health than before the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey suggests.

The Canadian Medical Association's national physician health survey, released Thursday, indicates that 53 per cent of respondents reported symptoms of burnout, including emotional exhaustion.

The reported burnout rate among doctors was 1.7 times higher than it was in the association's previous survey in 2017.

The survey suggests that one-quarter of respondents were experiencing severe or moderate anxiety and almost half of the respondents were struggling with depression.

Forty-nine per cent of physicians who participated in the survey also indicated they were likely to reduce or modify their clinical hours in the next two years.

The association's president, Dr. Alika Lafontaine, said the participants' responses "reflect the current state of the health-care system," adding the COVID 19 pandemic exacerbated many challenges physicians have been facing for years.

"People pulling back full-time clinical practice, people doing different things in order to mitigate burnout, more pervasive negative sentiment towards the direction that the health-care system is going and then just how this is affecting certain types of physicians more ... family physicians in particular are really struggling," he said in a recent interview.

The online survey involved 4,121 physicians, medical residents and medical students who participated between Oct. 13 and Dec. 13, 2021.

Lafontaine, who is a practising anesthesiologist in Grande Prairie, Alta., said doctors are resilient but the stress levels they face are very high.

"We've been trained in situations where stress is a normal part of work," he said. "We know that providing care in the medical system is a stressful job, but that stress has just completely gone out of control."

The survey suggests 36 per cent of physicians have had thoughts of suicide at some point in their life, compared to 18 per cent of doctors saying they thought about suicide in 2017.

Fifty-seven per cent of all respondents said they always or often feel fatigued at work, and only 36 per cent of respondents saidthey always or often get optimal sleep.

Lafontaine said provincial governments across Canada have had an "obsession with efficiency" over the last two decades, and health-care providers have not received the support they need to make sure their work environments are sustainable.

He said health-care providers, administrators and governments should start working toward pan-Canadian solutions.

"And then make sure that we have the right priorities: focusing on sustainable work environments, making sure that high-quality, high-safety patient care is provided," he said.

Lafontaine, who was recently elected as the first Indigenous president to the Canadian Medical Association, said the federal government can help by working toward more collaboration in health human resources.

MORE National ARTICLES

Woman found with gunshot wounds in Downtown Eastside: VPD

Woman found with gunshot wounds in Downtown Eastside: VPD
Officers discovered the injured 39-year-old near Main Street and East Cordova just before 1 a.m., after she approached a passerby and asked for help. When officers arrived, they found the victim badly injured. VPD provided immediate first aid to the woman, who was taken to hospital and is now receiving treatment for serious injuries.

Woman found with gunshot wounds in Downtown Eastside: VPD

More people attached to language than Canada: poll

More people attached to language than Canada: poll
The survey, which was conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies, found 88 per cent of respondents reported a strong sense of attachment to their primary language, whereas 85 per cent reported the same for Canada.

More people attached to language than Canada: poll

Man arrested after exposing himself to hikers at Lynn Canyon Park

Man arrested after exposing himself to hikers at Lynn Canyon Park
The man, who is in his 30’s and is a resident of Delta, was subsequently released on conditions that include not to attend Lynn Canyon Park. The Mounties are now appealing to that person to come forward and provide information about what they witnessed.

Man arrested after exposing himself to hikers at Lynn Canyon Park

Cyclist in hospital after a motor vehicle collision

Cyclist in hospital after a motor vehicle collision
On Tuesday, August 9th at approximately 1:59 p.m., Surrey RCMP attended to the scene of a cyclist struck by a work van in the 9700-block of 120 Street. Via release, the Mounties say the cyclist sustained serious injuries and was transported to hospital. 

Cyclist in hospital after a motor vehicle collision

Snowbird jets grounded as accident investigated

Snowbird jets grounded as accident investigated
The decision to ground the planes comes after a crash of one of the jets on Aug. 2 at the airport in Fort St. John, B.C. No one was hurt when the pilot made a hard landing and the Air Force says the cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Snowbird jets grounded as accident investigated

IHIT identifies Surrey taxi shooting passenger as David Chavez-Jara

IHIT identifies Surrey taxi shooting passenger as David Chavez-Jara
Mounties say the passenger who died has been identified as a 30 year old David Chavez-Jara of Surrey. Chavez-Jara was well known to police and was recently convicted on Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking. 

IHIT identifies Surrey taxi shooting passenger as David Chavez-Jara