Adding more doctors does not solve the problem, it creates one

A man in our city back home in Iraq received an enormous amount of wealth from his deceased father and claimed he had intelligence, acumen and business sense. He decided one day to buy a nearby farm from the heirs of a famous businessman. The farm was generating good returns for its old owner and working smoothly and successfully, so the new owner believed that his wealth would grow. But he had to make some changes on the farm, which had no less than 40 workers who had worked in their jobs for many years without any problems or stumblings. The new owner, with his stubbornness and belief in his intelligence, failed to consult anyone in the same profession about the changes who might have given advice and thoughtful contributions about perpetuating the success. As part of his plan, he hired more workers at a lower wage and gave them more hours and the priority tasks at work, among other measures. Using flimsy reasons, he fined the old workers and forced them to do additional work without paying them more. Read: Dr. Jabir Jassam: Do angry patients think the college is an outlet? Let me suggest something After a short period of time, veteran workers began leaving their jobs one after the other, which seemed to be what he wanted, so he hired new ones with a lower salary and more hours. His only thought was that if he brought in more employees at lower pay, his revenues would increase. After a year or two, the quality of farm production deteriorated, and his new employees began to leave the farm one after another as a result of the increased pressure and the extra hours imposed and the lack of respect and appreciation by the new owner, who paid less and demanded more. The farm manager, who had been in his position for decades, saw the failure before his eyes, but remained silent for fear of dismissal. He sat with the new owner and advised him that the solution is not to bring in more employees with little experience or to increase their working hours, because those are only temporary solutions. Instead, the solution lies in investing in the more experienced employees who used to manage the farm by increasing their daily wages and valuing their work; not putting extra pressure on them to work more hours. That was his last statement before he was dismissed. As the years went by, the farm looked different to us: an empty desert devoid of spirit and life. Personally, I passed the farm many times and saw the wilting and death of some of its major trees with heartbreak. In the end, the owner didn’t remain stubborn, he offered the farm up for sale, and a successful and well-known businessman bought it and hired all the old employees back. The manager’s advice and suggestions were implemented. Two years later, the farm was back doing well. It is impossible for a baker to cut hair better than a barber, nor can a barber bake better than a baker. It is important for me to see my IMG friends and colleagues practicing the way I did. However, getting more doctors is not a solution to our crisis, but will only aggravate it. All changes and actions are preceded by voices, and here is mine: Our health system will not be revived by bringing more doctors, so I suggest the following: Increase the wages and salaries of existing doctors, and nurses by a significant amount. Provide doctors with all benefits that government employees enjoy. Support nurse practitioners and physician assistants in primary care offices, so they can assist physicians with cases that are delaying their ability to handle serious and complicated health issues. Pay the whole or a major part of the overhead, expenses and staff salaries for all primary care offices. Discontinue blaming and micromanaging primary care physicians. Physicians follow the rules meticulously with no need to be micromanaged. Stop spending on programs and places that are unnecessary and consuming a big part of the budget. Give permission for physicians to invoice patients for outside usage to minimize double and triple doctoring. Reinstate the virtual care with the same payment as the in-office payment after revising the whole payment process. Open doors for discussion about privatizing part of our health system Dr. Jabir Jassam is a family physician in Ottawa.

Adding more doctors does not solve the problem, it creates one

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