Family doctor speaks out about system as he closes Summerside walk-in clinic for 2 weeks

This summer, Dr. Syed Naqvi is doing something many people on P.E.I. do: He's taking a vacation and closing down his business while he's gone.

But Naqvi is a family doctor, and his business includes the Summerside Family Clinic, the only walk-in clinic in the city that patients without their own doctor can use.

And since he couldn't find a doctor to replace him during his vacation, the clinic is closing for two weeks. 

"My job is a full-complement family physician," Naqvi told CBC News on Friday. "I am doing above and beyond what my job is" by operating the walk-in clinic as well as his own practice. 

Naqvi is a fee-for-service physician with about 3,000 patients, but on top of that he takes about 15 walk-in patients per day, on top of about 25 visits from his own patients. 

"I am doing it for people who don't have [anywhere] to go," he said. "It's not a part of my contract to provide a walk-in clinic." 

Green Party of P.E.I. MLA Trish Altass said the thought of Summerside's only walk-in clinic closing worries her. She said people are stressed and facing long waits in emergency rooms, but don't have a choice.

"We really need a more sustainable model than the current one … private clinic that is available," Altass said. "If that one doctor is not available for any period of time, there's absolutely no access." 

Naqvi said he would welcome anything the Opposition can do to pressure the government into hiring more doctors, not to mention clinicians with international training. 

In an emailed statement Friday, provincial officials said: "While Health P.E.I. does not manage this clinic, we recognize that lack of access to primary care is a serious concern … Increasing access to care is one of the main priorities of the health system."

While talking about the problems currently facing P.E.I. family doctors, Naqvi blamed the province's new system of electronic medical records for slowing down treatment and making appointments more scarce. 

"We were given a new software to go online," he said. "This software is slowing us down by two-and-a-half times. So if a person was seeing 50 patients a day, say, they are … down to 20." 

He said he is still trying to see as many patients as he can, but it means a lot of overtime, and he is working up to 14 hours a day.