(Cindy Chant editorial)

A master agreement signed last year between doctors and Health PEI has once again failed to produce the outcome everyone was hoping for.

The government thought doctors who signed on for the long haul and stayed here for more than five years deserved to have fatter wallets. Sort of sounds like a prison term – being rewarded for good behaviour in the form of cold hard cash. Do we really want professionals staying in a place just for the incentives or because they are driven to make a difference?

Doctors who work on the Island for more than five years will get $2,000 each year they stay after that term. If the doctors work with nurse practitioners, mental health or addictions workers, or extend their hours to nights and weekends, the doctors will receive an extra $5,000 a year. 

Many residents living in rural PEI have noticed doctors who have become more involved seem to become less accessible to their regular patients, leaving many out in the cold, waiting weeks for an appointment. Specialists who are seeing more patients and reduce their wait times also get a productivity bonus.

If the whole world worked that way for everyone we certainly would not have anything to complain about. Work harder and get a reward – slackers, sorry ‘no soup for you’, so try harder next time please!

Many of the doctors who have been on the Island for a while feel as though they have had to pick up extra workloads when other physicians leave to where the grass is considered greener.

With a province of less than 150,000 people how can officials think we can possibly compete with much larger centres, where one emergency room may have over 20 doctors?

Retention seems to be the biggest challenge the Island has to deal with. Whether it is doctors, young families or newly graduated young people, the story is still the same. The incentives are not working over the long term. 

The provincial government has several programs in place encouraging new graduates to practice on the Island, including sponsorships and residency programs, but we are not looking at the bigger picture of keeping them here. After five years the world is their oyster and they are free to roam wherever the wind takes them.

I am not sure an extra couple of grand will be enough to prevent the migration of physicians to larger centres with deeper pockets. The total budget for paying Island doctors is currently $86 million. It has been reported the provisions of the new five-year agreement are expected to cost another $2.1 million. Where is the extra money coming from?

Taking from Peter to pay Paul is not always the best solution. Doctors who have left have not voiced any complaints regarding wages as their primary reason for packing their bags. 

Perhaps improved work conditions, holiday time, and less political interference when practising their trade would allow doctors to grow deeper roots on the Island. All of the red tape provided by the government has not quite been sticky enough to keep the doctors in one place.