Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman has critical thoughts on the NDP government's handling of the BC doctor shortage. One in five British Columbians does not have access to a family doctor, which translates to about a million people without a doctor in the province. As a result of the doctor shortage, patients are having a harder time accessing medications, including cancer treatments that could save their lives.  “My office gets phone Calls every week about someone who is struggling to try to find a family doctor so they can get anything from a simple prescription renewed to in some cases life-saving prescriptions,” Banman says. “One that comes to mind is a constituent that moved here from another Province and needed medications for their cancer treatment and was absolutely just running into roadblock after roadblock.” There has been some progress with the BC government’s announcement of the new SFU medical school being constructed, but Banman says that the one school isn’t enough to cover the upcoming retiring doctors. “40 percent [of doctors] plan on retiring in the near future. It takes seven years minimum to train a medical doctor. They [the NDP] are now in their sixth year of government. For them to be making another announcement about the same school they were going to open before, it should not be a surprise that medical doctors are going to retire.” Banman critiques that the NDP has lost critical time to train doctors in the province to cover the shortage of doctors, and to get foreign-trained doctors to get their credentials.

To hear Banman's full thoughts on the doctor shortage, listen to the full interview here: