Long waits, time-outs on Maple lead to renewed calls for Canada-wide medical licences

As more Prince Edward Islanders without family doctors or nurse practitioners are being told to consult the virtual health-care platform Maple instead, long wait times are becoming more frequent.  

Nancy Riley of Cornwall, P.E.I., tried using Maple but was discouraged by having to wait several hours to hear back from a health-care worker.

"That was really frustrating, especially when you're sick," Riley said. "They have to do something to address the wait times."

Several people reached out to CBC News saying they spent hours trying to reach a practitioner through Maple, with some saying their sessions timed out before they could get help.

"After three hours, they bump you off the system with a polite message to try again in an hour. So then you have to get back on the Maple website or app and do the whole spiel of saying what you are asking for and uploading the appropriate documents," one patient said by email.

The online health-care platform allows people to talk to doctors or nurse practitioners for things like prescription refills, requisitions for bloodwork or referrals for in-person care. The province pays the fees for Islanders who don't have a primary care provider. 

According to data from Health P.E.I., 57 per cent of Islanders are now registered to use Maple. The number of virtual appointments has more than doubled, going from 932 appointments per month in 2022 to 2,339 visits per month by June 2023.

Health P.E.I. acknowledged the growing wait times on Maple in an email to CBC News this week. A spokesperson said the agency has been increasing staffing to help address the issue.  

"[Health P.E.I.] has had five additional physicians from P.E.I. signed on to support the virtual care and has also been connecting people with one of the primary-care access clinics to support in-person appointments in follow up as needed," the agency said in an email.

"Each of these services has its limits, but we have been able to address the needs of people timing out on the Maple platform."

Andrew MacDougall, executive director for community health and seniors care for Health P.E.I., said staff are keeping track of those who've timed out on Maple. He said some people who don't get care within three hours are being referred to an in-person primary-care access clinic without having to connect with a Maple provider.

Those clinics exist mainly for people who've been triaged through virtual care and told they need in-person assessment and follow-up care.

"We're watching those who've had multiple time-outs and multiple challenges… that's an important flag for us," MacDougall said.

"We apologize. We don't want people to be frustrated; we want people to be able to access care as soon as possible.