Supporting Community-based Specialists

Purpose

Engage with community-based specialists without hospital or health authority privileges to understand their needs in order to determine how to better support them.

Sizing it Up

At the Specialists Symposium in 2019, SSC collected feedback on how it can better support all specialists in their work, and support to community-based specialists without affiliation with hospitals and health authorities was identified as a need. This resulted in the SSC identifying support to these specialists as one its priorities moving forward. 

Additionally, early in 2020 the Doctors of BC board, with endorsement by the Representative Assembly, acknowledged the unique concerns of community-based specialists. SSC is working to ensure support to these specialist groups are in place. .

Things to Know

We are in the early stages of research on this strategic priority and are working to understand the unique issues facing community-based specialists, and how we can better engage and support this key group of physicians, and whether this support can be provided through existing initiatives and collaboratives.

A first step in this process will be a province-wide survey of the community-based specialists in the fall of 2020. Information gleaned from this survey will help inform the next steps.

Access Support

To better understand the unique needs of community-based specialists without hospital privileges, SSC heard from about 30 community-based specialists representing 12 specialties from across the province. As part of five focus groups, these community-based specialists reflected on potential gaps and opportunities within SSC’s mandate and scope of work and identified concrete and actionable priorities for SSC. Read more in the focus group report. 

Contact

Donna Murphy-Burke, Portfolio Liaison; dmurphyburke@doctorsofbc.ca

Stories

Opening the lines of communications (2021)